Ice Princess
by Kiki Hikari
Summary: Lucy knows that Gray possibly likes her thanks to Gemini and develops feelings for him during a mission. But a certain water mage is upset about this. Who will Lucy choose, her friend or her love?
1. Mission

**Ice Princess**

Chapter One: Mission

**WARNING: This may contain spoilers if you aren't at the Oracion Seis arc and over yet. Read at your own risk!**

**Lucy's POV…**

_I wonder what Gemini meant, by that… _I thought, sitting at the counter in the Fairy Tail Guild, of which I was a member. The words that Gemini said repeated in my mind, _Lucy as seen by Gray… A newcomer to the guild. Looks are very much to his liking; somewhat interested in her._

_That couldn't have been true… _I thought. I would be lying if I ever said Gray was bad-looking but I'd never liked him in that way. It hadn't been awkward on the rest of the mission, but now that I'd thought more about it, it seemed really weird that Gray had ever possibly thought of me that way.

"Lucy-san?" said Mirajane, suddenly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I said, "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"I wasn't saying anything," said Mira sweetly, "You've just been really isolated from everyone, in your own thoughts since you've gotten back from the Oracion Seis mission. At first, I didn't think much of it but are you really OK? There aren't any personal issues or anything, right?"

"No, no, of course not!" I said immediately, "Sorry I made you worry."

"It's OK, as long as you're OK," said Mira. She paused, and then asked, "Nothing to do with a boy, right?"

"N-No!" I said too quickly.

"Knew it," said Mira, smiling, "I may not fight anymore, but I still have some instincts. So, which one is it? Natsu? Gajeel? Jet or Droy? My brother?"

"No, no, no, no and no," I answered.

"Who am I missing?" mused Mira, "Oh… Gray?"

I figured her instincts would win me over so I didn't bother lying, "Yes."

"Something to do with the Oracion Seis mission?"

"Yeah…"

"All right. Tell Mira all about it."

"Aren't you busy?" I said.

"No, go on, shoot."

"Well, you see," I explained, "You know Gemini, right?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, he was originally owned by a member, Angel and he was mostly used for gathering information because he can copy everything of the person he transforms into. He copied Gray once on the mission to kill Natsu and he revealed some info about him. One particular piece of information stuck in my mind."

"What was that?"

"Well, Gemini said that Gray was somewhat interested in me."

Mira kept her cool personality, "And what was your reaction to this?"

"It surprised me, since I've never seen Gray as… well, that type of person. And I still don't."

"Does Gray know that Gemini said this?"

"I don't think so," I said, "I'd think it'd be awkward if I ever brought it up with him."

"I guess you're right," said Mira, "But, Lucy, sometimes, it's just better to hear the truth than wait forever, wondering what Gray would have said if you'd just talked to him about it."

"So, you mean right now?" I said, my heart rate sort of speeding up. I'd never wanted to have these sorts of 'talks' with my Dad let alone Gray. Not that Dad ever had time for any sort of long talk, but still…

"I never said that," said Mira, "Whenever you feel comfortable enough, you can talk with him. It doesn't have to necessarily be now."

"Lucy!" called Gray suddenly. I froze in my seat and twitched, "G-Gray?"

"Calm down," said Mira nicely, putting a hand on my wrist, "He doesn't know anything, remember? As long as you don't give it away, you can choose whenever you want to talk to him."

"We took a mission!" shouted Natsu, suddenly, whacking his arm around me, making me nearly falling forward.

"Aye!" said Happy.

"Don't kill her before the mission even starts," said Erza, walking up.

"What is the mission, anyway?" I asked, "Why would you guys even take a mission without making sure _everyone _even agreed to it?"

"But we knew you'd agree with it," said Natsu, "Ne, Happy, show her!"

"Aye, sir!" said Happy, giving me the request. I looked at the rank. S-ranked of course. Who knew? I looked at the reward and my eyes nearly burst out of my head. 10 million jewel. That would be enough to pay my rent for ages even though the reward would be split between us.

"Who would give out this much money?" I cried.

"S-Rank missions are generally higher-paying," said Erza, "Read the description."

I did as she said and understood immediately.

_Some kidnappers have taken the princess of our island hostage. Please save her and your reward is guaranteed._

"We're saving a PRINCESS?" I nearly yelled, "Isn't that a whole lot of pressure on us?"

"So?" said Natsu, "Just look at that reward! This mission is guaranteed to get us a huge feast as well because the King who requested this is loaded!"

"Don't forget the point of the mission is to save the princess, not to have a huge feast," said Erza sternly.

"They'll probably have shortcake," said Happy.

"Let's go, the sooner we go, the sooner I'll get that shortcake— I mean, the sooner we'll save the princess."

I looked at the location at which we had to travel to, "This island, Crescent Lunar… it's a long way away from here, isn't it?"

"So?" said Natsu, "Look at the reward—"

"Meaning we'll have to travel by boat for a while," I said, "By **boat**."

Natsu was instantly looking as if he was holding in his puke and his face was a light shade of purple.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I laughed.

"Lucy!" whined Natsu, "You're so mean!"

"So mean!" repeated Happy.

I just laughed, "I just wanted to prepare you, because unless you want Happy to carry you the whole way, you have to ride in the boat."

"WENDY!" yelled Natsu.

"This boy never listens," said Charle, sighing, "Wendy's Troia magic becomes less effective every time, remember?"

"But I need it!" said Natsu, "Otherwise Lucy's going to laugh at me the whole way! Ne, ne, Wendy! Come with us!"

"Gomenasai, Natsu-san, I have to go on another mission," apologized Wendy.

"So, this Princess-type mission we've already done twice," said Gray, smiling at me.

"Really?" I said, "When did you save another princess?"

"When you ran away to your Dad's," said Gray, "Remember, Erza, Natsu, Happy and I all went over there to save you?"

"I technically wasn't in trouble," I said, "Besides, I'm not a princess."

"You're the closest thing to one," replied Gray, "You have practically all the qualities: the kindness, the good manners, the looks…"

"What?" I said, my head snapping up at the 'looks' bit.

"What, what?" asked Gray, looking confused, "I just named the things that made you like a princess."

_Meaning that he meant the kindness, the good manners and the looks…_

"I got the luggage!" shouted Erza, coming along, tugging a platform with a whole lot of suitcases on it, "Come on, we have to go get the cake— I mean the princess!"

"I have to go!" I said, literally flying over to where Erza was.

"Lucy—" said Gray. I pretended to observe the large haul of luggage but I still heard what he said, "What did I say?"

Poor Gray. I fiddled around nervously, having a new thing to repeat in my head all day.


	2. Travel

Chapter Two: Travel

The day was sweltering hot. Lucky I usually wear short skirts and tops. I trudged along, sweating after the others. Erza never changed her pace and Natsu was energetic enough, Happy following suit. Gray was probably resisting the urge to strip off all his clothes and was sweating a waterfall.

"How much further?" I asked, my feet aching. It had probably been a couple of hours since we left the guild.

"Don't be such a sook, Lucy!" said Natsu, smiling happily, not even puffing.

"Yeah!" said Happy, although he wasn't as energized as Natsu.

"Be quiet!" I said, "It's easy for you, Natsu! Your power's probably double in this weather."

"Yeah!" said Natsu, "Hey… I could finally beat Gray today! Ha, ha, ha!"

"Shut up," snapped Gray. I could see the heat was making his mood sour, like mine.

"Your ice would probably melt, the second it came out," laughed Natsu.

"Don't make me turn around!" threatened Erza.

Both Natsu and Gray pretended to be best friends after that. I always admired how Erza had the ability to do that.

After a few more hours…

"Can we take a break?" I pleaded, practically dragging myself along and leaning against trees when possible. We were in a forest where we walked along a dirt path. Erza, meanwhile, was still walking without a change of pace despite her wearing armour in the hot weather. The evening was still hot and we had to slap the occasional mosquito. Of course, Natsu and Gray slapped each other until Erza threatened again.

"No," said Erza firmly, "We're nearly at the place where we can get that boat."

"That's what you said a few hours ago!" I protested, "I don't want to seem annoying or anything, but it's getting dark and why couldn't we have just taken one of those cars that absorb your magic to move?"

"Because this is an S-class mission," said Erza, pausing to turn around and looking me in the eye, allowing me a few seconds to sit down, despite the dusty ground, "I'm not sparing any magic power when some enemy could pounce on us at any moment."

"There's also the chance the princess might get shot while we're still walking here," pointed out Gray.

"You didn't read the whole message left to us by the King," said Erza, "They have to pay the ransom by three days or then the princess gets killed. We'll make it to the boat by three days."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Natsu, even he was tired, "Because, when I was little, I looked all over for Igneel," I noticed him wince slightly at the mention of his name, "and I think I've covered more ground right now than I did then."

"We'll get there," said Erza, "Come on, hurry up. No dawdling."

I pushed myself off the ground, dusting off my skirt and forced myself to follow Erza.

After a while…

"OK," said Erza, "We're here."

"THIS?" I couldn't help but exclaim, "Walking about 5000 kilometres for THIS?"

For there in the water at the coast was a little wooden, unreliable-looking boat.

"Honestly, why can't we get a ride like during the Galuna Island mission?" asked Natsu, "At least that was within walking distance."

"Think about the reward, Natsu," I said jokingly, "Honestly though, I agree with him. Why couldn't we have gotten a ride?"

"If we had taken that ride, it would have taken us a lot of time. But during this, it's an hour ride at the most."

"How is all our luggage supposed to fit on that?" Gray asked, gesturing to the colossal mountain of luggage.

"We leave it behind, of course!" said Happy.

"NO, WE ARE NOT!" yelled Erza, "You realise it's an island, so I thought I'd go relax by going out to the beach and so we are bringing that along!"

"All of it?" exclaimed Natsu, "Geez, how big is your swimsuit, anyway?"

"Why can't you just use Requip Magic for your swimsuit?" asked Gray.

"We're bringing them along," said Erza, "Case closed. We'll make a raft out of tree trunks. Chop down a few palm trees, troops."

Since we didn't have much choice, I got out my Celestial keys, "Door of the bull, I open thee! Taurus!"

"Lucy! What must I do to protect your nice body?" asked Taurus as soon as he was out.

"Um, nothing," I said, "But you can help me cut down some trees."

"If it protects your nice body!"

"Um, sure…"

Sure enough, he chopped down about four of five trees.

"OK," I said, struggling to pick up one by one of its ends, "Can you help me carry them over there, then, please, Taurus?"

"Sure!" he said eagerly and picked up the rest of the trunks.

_God! _I thought, trying to lift up the trunk, _I don't know how Taurus does this…_

Suddenly, the trunk lifted up at the other end. I looked behind me in surprise and saw Gray.

"If you needed some help, you could've just said so," said Gray, smiling slightly.

"I thought I could do it myself," I said, as we carried the trunk to the others, "All the others are working hard so I wanted to do my part as well."

He smiled, "Naturally Lucy. Always trying to help out."

"Isn't that the point of being a guild member?" I asked, placing down the trunk, "Helping each other out?"

"I guess," shrugged Gray, "But also being part of a guild member is that other members are there to help you when you need it."

"I would've gotten that trunk there," I protested, "… Eventually."

He sniggered.

"Oh, come on! The weather wasn't helping either! This weather is impossible, it's too hot!"

"Really?" said Gray, "All right… Ice Make…"

His magic circle appeared above me and some little droplets of ice slowly fell down around us. The hot weather melted the ice before it reached us and little trickles of water landed on me, cooling me down. The weather would dry me quickly so I never worried about catching a cold.

"Sugei, Gray!" I praised, "I thought you could only make battle weapons and, well fighting equipment."

"I'm insulted," said Gray, "Back when I trained with IU— Lyon, _she _taught us the basics of producing ice. This was the first magic I used to make ice before I made more complicated things like my Ice Cage and Bazooka and stuff…"

"It's still amazing," I said.

"Lucy! We finished the raft!" called Natsu.

I looked over and saw the trunks were tied together with some vines from the forest. Erza was loading on the luggage and tied some vine to the raft and the boat, connecting them.

"Is that boat going to be able to tug along the luggage?" asked Happy.

"It better," said Erza, tying a double knot, "Otherwise; we can swim there and pull it ourselves."

"Can you please freeze the vine connecting the things?" I asked Gray, "It make it less likely to break."

"OK," said Gray, "Ice Maho…"

The vine froze instantly. Natsu's looked over at Gray and me, "Hey, looks like your ability's useful after all."

"Shut up," said Gray.

"Hey!" said Happy, flying over to me, "You llllike him!"

"Come on, Happy, not today," I sighed, "We've already walked a whole marathon and now we're taking a trip across the ocean. You better go and comfort Natsu."

"Oh yeah," said Happy, flying over to where Natsu was, half dead lying on the boat. Erza jumped on board, making the boat bob up and down and I felt some pity for Natsu.

"Come on," said Gray, walking ahead.

I went towards the boat. I walked past Taurus who was fading away back into the Celestial Spirit World.

"Arigato, Taurus," I said, waving.

"No problem!" he said, "All for your nice body!"

"Yeah, OK," I said, walking to the boat, "Wow, it's smaller than what I thought…"

Because Natsu took up most of the space since he was lying horizontally, Erza was sitting down, one suitcase took up a space too and Happy was sitting down since he didn't want to fly for an hour. There was only one little space to fit one person.

"Um…" I said, turning to Gray, "Do you want to sit down?"

"Are you kidding me?" said Gray, "Just get rid of the suitcase," he said to Erza.

"This is my personal suitcase which has its own personal spot besides me," said Erza stubbornly.

"What are all the other suitcases then?" asked Gray.

"My stuff," said Erza, "And Lucy's stuff. This is just my special, personal suitcase. What's the big deal anyway? Just let Lucy sit on you."

Gray twitched, "Are you serious?"

"What? Would you rather swim?" asked Erza, "Because, Natsu's not moving, I'm not moving because I'm rowing this boat and I'm not even sure Happy can swim or fly for an hour. And I'm not making Lucy swim either, because unlike you, she's actually able to catch a cold."

Gray sighed and sat down in the one available seat, "All right, sit down, Lucy."

I hesitantly sat down on Gray, hoping that the situation wouldn't look too awkward.

"Isn't she heavy?" asked Happy.

I glared at him, "Nani?"

"Not really," said Gray.

"Huh," said Erza, "OK, Gray, put her arms around her and hold her."

"Why?" I asked before Gray could.

"Because I need some entertainment besides watching Natsu looking as if he's about to throw up and because I'm pushing off now and I don't want Lucy to fall off. Happy, hold down Natsu so he won't fall off."

"Aye!" agreed Happy and held Natsu back.

Erza pushed off hard and everyone lurched forward at least a little bit. Then we travelled smoothly until the coast disappeared.

"OK, it's getting late," said Erza, "You guys might as well get a bit of sleep, even if only for an hour. We'll be at the island soon."

_I really want to sleep but what if Gray's uncomfortable with it? _I thought. Happy was asleep in ten seconds flat and Natsu was even asleep even if he was sweating a lot from being sick.

"You can go to sleep, you know," said Gray, "I don't mind."

"OK," I said, leaning forward a bit so I wasn't leaning against him. I was used to sleeping on more comfortable surfaces and leaning forward was a bit uncomfortable for me.

Gray sighed, "I'm not going to bite," he said.

I smiled and laid my head against his neck. If Happy was still awake, he'd probably snicker and laugh but I was so tired I didn't care. Before I even thought much on that, I was already asleep.

**Don't forget to review and tell me what you think about this so far! :) **


	3. Crescent Lunar

Chapter Three: Crescent Lunar

_I awoke with a start. I looked around, wondering where I was. The perfectly green grass and beautiful garden seemed really familiar to me._

"_Where am I?" I said aloud, surprised at my light voice. I paused, shocked and looked at my hand. It was so tiny, like a child's. I looked around again and realised where this place was._

_My home, I thought. I got up off the ground and realised by my height, I was a child. I walked around without really paying attention to where I was going, lost in my thoughts. Then I realised I was standing in front of my mother's grave. _

"_Mother," I said, looking at the grave. Judging by the appearance, it was recently done which meant recently, my mother had died…_

_Just then, small ripples began to appear, like when you toss a pebble into a pool. Then I saw a woman step out, almost looking identical to me. _

"_Mother," I said, shocked._

_She smiled, "Lucy."_

_I began crying, "You're alive! Mother!"_

"_Don't cry," she said, crouching down and wiping away my tears, "I'm very proud of you, Lucy. You have become very strong and took care of my Celestial keys. But there is a great danger approaching you. You will have to make a decision, but I know you will do the right thing. Gray was right. When you're part of a guild, you help others, no matter how large the danger. Your team is going to need your help this time and you're the only one that can do it. I believe in you, Lucy. Make me proud, ne?" she said, smiling gently, before fading away._

"_Mother!" I cried, trying to grab her back, "Don't go! Matte! What do you mean?"_

"Ahhh!" I yelped, jerking up.

"Lucy?" said Erza, startled, "What's wrong?"

I looked behind me. Gray was still sleeping like a rock. I sighed in relief, glad I hadn't woken him up, "Nothing," I said, lying back against Gray's neck, "I just had a dream."

I wouldn't necessarily classify it as a good dream, nor a bad dream, just a dream.

"Oh," said Erza. I was glad she didn't dwell on it too much, "OK. We're reaching the island, Crescent Lunar now. Oi, Natsu, wake up!" she said, reaching across and hitting him a few times on the face lightly.

I wriggled free one of my arms and poked Gray's face a few times, "Gray, wake up!"

He mumbled something and held onto me more tightly until I could barely breathe, "Erza… help…"

She sighed and lifted one of the oars so it was over Gray's face and let a few drops of water drizzle on his face.

He twitched and started to wake up, rubbing his eyes, allowing me to breathe. Happy also twitched and woke up, rubbing his own eyes, "Are we nearly there?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm floating onto the coast right now," answered Erza, the boat drifting onto the sandbar and stopping. Natsu was the first to hop out and started taking huge, deep breaths, probably glad he was on the ground again.

I got up and stretched a bit before getting out. Gray and Happy followed suit while Erza dragged the luggage onto the shore.

"OK, let's go," said Erza, walking ahead, "I haven't gotten any sleep so I want to get to that castle quick."

As we walked through the small town of Crescent Lunar, I could see the people here lived in peace, although some houses looked as if they were being repaired and as if they were broken into.

_The kidnappers, _I thought, looking at the poor folk who had to fix their broken windows and vandalised houses. We continued walking until we reached the castle in the middle of the town. There were large, barred gates outside the enormous garden guarded by two armed guards.

As we approached, one of them stepped forward, "What business do you have here? Your group doesn't seem like town folk."

"We're Fairy Tail wizards," said Natsu, bold as ever. He held out the request paper which we had brought along, "We're here for this request."

"Any proof?" asked the second guard, "While you might have come with this request made by our King, you must prove you are Fairy Tail wizards. Since the Princess' kidnapping, we have been on high alert, you see."

"Fair enough," I said, holding out my hand with the Fairy Tail mark, "Here's some proof."

The others showed their marks. One guard stepped forward and looked at the marks. He looked at his partner and nodded, "These seem genuine enough."

"All right," said Guard Number Two, "You may go in, although you will have some guards escort you to the King's chambers."

"Fine," agreed Erza before speaking to us, "Let's go."

As we walked in, some guards emerged from the castle and walked over to us. We exchanged brief greetings before they led us into the castle.

The insides of the castle were beautiful, much like my old home. There were polished floors, large portraits of members of the family hung up and a grand, curving staircase. I looked at one portrait of a young woman who must have been the princess or a very young Queen.

She had light brown wavy hair reaching past her shoulders, out loose. I couldn't tell how long her hair really was because of the length of the portrait which was just from just below her shoulders and up. Her face was a perfect oval and had huge deep brown eyes. Her nose and mouth were both perfect, her mouth turned up at the corners into a smile, showing off her pearly white teeth. I couldn't really tell the outfit but it seemed to be a black, long sleeved dress with a square neckline and silver outline. She also wore a silver chain with a black raindrop pendant.

"She's beautiful," I whispered to Gray. The perfect depiction of a princess.

"I suppose," shrugged Gray, "I never really noticed."

We walked up to some grand double doors that must have been where the King was. One guard stepped forward and knocked on the door, "Excuse us, sir. The Fairy Tail wizards are here for your request."

"Come in," said a deep voice on the other side.

They pushed open the doors and gestured for us to go inside. We did and saw the King sitting at a large desk, much like my father's when he used to be in his study all day. The room was well lit with bright lights.

The King was a middle-age man with deep, short brown hair that didn't look as if it had been brushed in a while. He had on a silk, navy blue robe, tied at the front. He had the same eyes as his daughter only narrower.

"You may leave for us to discuss the details of the kidnapping," he said to the guards.

"Yes, sir," they said and left, closing the doors behind them.

"Please, sit," said the King, pushing his paperwork to the side and placing his pen next to them. He waved his hand at some chairs and a couch around a table in the room.

We walked there and sat down, Happy sitting on the armrest on Natsu's chair.

The King then got out of his chair and went to sit down on one of the chairs, "So, Fairy Tail wizards, I believe you are here to help with my request?" he tapped a piece of paper on the table which was a copy of the request we had.

"Yes," answered Erza, "However, in order to do that, we must gather as much information as possible; which includes asking you some basic questions about the kidnapping."

"I understand," said the King, "But before that, I have to learn your names…?"

"Erza Scarlet," said Erza and gestured to each person as she said their name, "Natsu Dragneel, the cat is Happy, Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia."

"Heartfilia?" said the King, surprised, "The wealthy Heartfilia family?"

"Yes," I answered, "However, it is no longer so." My father had decided to start over at his old guild place when he lost his fortune.

"I suppose you're right," said the King, "It was quite a shock."

"I guess we'll just refer to you as 'sir'," said Erza, changing the subject.

"As you wish," said the King.

"Well, sir, first of all, what is the name of your daughter?"

"Chantelle," answered the King immediately, "Chantelle Lesdales."

"Right," said Erza, "The date of the kidnapping?"

"The 21st of November."

"I see. Do you know where the base is?"

"No idea."

"Well, where have you been asked to pay the ransom?" asked Erza, "If you pay the money, someone will pick it up and our team will follow them to their base."

"Right," said the King, "But if I pay the ransom, won't they let Chantelle go? I have to pay the ransom at the pier. It's near the edge of town."

"Believe me, I know criminals like this," said Erza, "They're sadists and they would probably kill your daughter just for the pleasure of it."

The King looked potentially sick. I nudged Erza and mouthed, _don't._

She mouthed back, _he has to know._

I suppose he had to but I still felt sorry for him. There was something else in his expression, "Wait," I said. I'm sure the others had noticed this too but had not yet said anything, "Do you even have enough money to pay this ransom? How much exactly did they ask for?"

The King didn't look us in the eye, "200 million jewel."

"200—" said Gray, "That's insane!"

"Perhaps," said the King, "You see, my wife recently passed away and I spent too much on the funeral preparations. I went in a depressed state and wasted lots of money stupidly."

"Well," said Natsu, turning to Erza, "What are we going to do?"

"This is what we'll do," said Erza, "The King will get a suitcase, perhaps filling it with something like bricks. When the kidnappers or their accomplices or whoever picks it up, we'll follow them to the base, maybe ambushing them or something like that. Though, the thing I'm worried about it is…"

"Come on, there's nothing to worry about!" said Natsu enthusiastically, "We're going to beat the crap out of them!"

"We're worried about you, Natsu," said Gray bluntly, "And your temper. If you blow up at them, they might pull the trigger on Chantelle."

"Just promise us you won't go crazy Natsu," I said, putting a hand on his arm, "Please."

He was hesitant but slowly registered the facts, "Fine."

"Thank you," said Erza, "There's a lot at stake here, Natsu. We just had to make sure we won't have to worry about your temper. But for now, we should get some rest. You too, sir," she said to the King.

"Yes," agreed the King, "There are some guest rooms in the castle. The guards shall show you."

"We'd be better off moving quickly," said Gray, "Should we do this tomorrow?"

"Yeah," said Erza, "Sir?"

"Yes, the sooner the better," he agreed.

"Well, let's get some rest," said Erza.

We all got up and walked out the doors. Guards were already there, guiding us to our rooms.

The room was even more beautiful. Pure white furniture and plush carpet. I could imagine Natsu flopping onto the bed, Gray probably stark naked since it was so hot for him and Erza the only person who would treat this room like a normal person.

I went to the white cupboard and looked at the various clothes in there for guests. I picked out a pale blue silk nightie and slipped into it. Surprisingly, it fit as if it had been tailored for me. I went to the long mirror beside the bedside table. It looked great even though I didn't really care about that. I did the normal routine before bed and slipped under the covers when I'd finished. I switched off the light.

_Tomorrow will be hard, _I thought, _But I _will _make my mother proud._


	4. Information

Chapter Four: Information

The sun shone brightly and nearly blinded me through my eyelids. I opened my eyes unwillingly and turned around, away from the window. Then I realised I was here on a mission and immediately got up. I closed the curtains and locked the door while I was getting dressed. I had enough problems with Natsu bursting in on me while I was in the bath at home so I was used to this routine.

After getting dressed, I got out a hair tie and tied up my hair in its usual ponytail. Then I pulled on my boots and grabbed my belt with my Celestial keys and whip on it. Luckily Aquarius didn't drop, even if it was a plush carpet, she would kill me.

I opened the door quietly, as not to disturb anyone still sleeping. I walked up to Erza's room who was probably already awake. I knocked and sure enough, the door opened and Erza looked at me, "Oh, good, you're up. We have to wake the others; it's about 8:30 so we have to get going."

"OK," I said, taking the nearest room. I opened the door which was unlocked and stepped inside. Gray or Natsu was sleeping completely under the covers, with a little bump indicating where they were.

"Oi, wake up," I said, tapping the bump, most probably their head.

The covers flew back and Gray yawned, sitting there, his hair all messed up.

He was also stark naked as I predicted.

The only problem was, I was in there.

"AHHH!" I screamed, the whole castle shaking.

"NANI?" shouted Natsu, bursting in, Happy right behind him and Erza behind him.

"Don't look, you're too young!" I shouted, covering up Gray from view.

"Well, I appreciate the thought but the fact is, I'm a guy too," said Natsu.

"Not you!" I said, "Happy! He's too innocent! And so was I before I looked at THAT!"

"PUT ON SOME CLOTHES!" yelled Erza, turning away, her face turning the same colour as her hair, "Geez! Who sleeps naked?"

"Don't blame me, just look at this weather!" said Gray, "It's hotter than yesterday!"

"Close the curtains for Christ sake!" shouted Erza, "Some innocent person could be looking through your window!"

"Well, it teaches him not to spy on people!" said Gray, pulling on his pants from the sound of it and smoothing his hair, "OK, I'm ready; I suppose I have to wear a shirt too."

"Preferably," said Erza, "I mean, what will the staff think? You have to admit, the staff were giving you weird looks when you strolled in last night shirtless."

Gray looked as if he was about to go nuts so I stepped in, "Erza, it's not that big a deal. We're doing this place a favour by saving their princess. One of the rescuers being shirtless shouldn't be so bad."

Erza considered this, "OK. But just because you said so, Lucy."

_Thank you, _mouthed Gray.

I smiled.

"Let's go!" shouted Natsu, already halfway down the hallway, "Come on, you guys! The King's outside!"

We walked out through the doors and saw the King waiting.

"Are you ready?" asked the King.

"Yep," said Natsu, "Let's go!"

"The pier is near here so we'll just walk," said the King.

"OK," Gray said.

As we were walking, we passed by a clothes shop and Erza stopped, "Wait."

"Come on, Erza, a clothes shop?" I cried.

"We have to cover up our Fairy Tail marks," said Erza, "You'd really think we're going to burst in there with our marks fully exposed? We'll work undercover."

"I see," said Happy.

"You can't fly," said Erza to Happy, "No wing exposure."

Happy seemed sad but recovered, "OK."

We walked in and looked around for something to cover up our marks. I grabbed a glove to cover up my mark. It was black and fingerless. I liked it, it went with my outfit and it was cheap which was an instant bonus.

"Hey, Erza, what do you think of this?" I asked, strolling into the dressing rooms where Erza was in a stall.

I saw a red sparkle and then Erza stepped out in black ankle boots, black stockings and a short, dark dress. Basically, a woman in black.

"Out of all of us, you probably have to disguise yourself the most," I said, "The 'Titania' Erza."

"And the 'Salamander', Natsu," said Erza, "Especially that scarf. But I don't have the heart to make him take it off, so we just have to chance it."

"Yeah," I said, pulling on my glove to test if it fit. It did. I figured my outfit was ordinary enough to not be suspicious, "What about Gray though?"

On cue, Gray called from out the ladies' change rooms, "Hey, you two in there! Can you tell me if this outfit's any good?"

We both went outside and saw Gray in a thin white T-shirt and black pants with little pockets, some having chains coming out and looping around back in. He actually looked pretty handsome…

_What the hell am I thinking? _I scolded myself; _you can't think these things for Gray. _

"I guess that's OK," said Erza, cocking her head and studying his outfit, "The shirt could be thicker but I guess as long as it doesn't stick to your chest and outline Fairy Tail's mark, it should be fine."

"Finally!" cried Gray, going back to the men's change rooms, "Geez, I'm sweating already."

Natsu jumped in at that second. Literally, he ran around the corner and jumped in front of us, "Hey, guys! What do you think of this outfit?"

Natsu was wearing white pants and a black jacket with orange dragons on it. He had his usual shoes on.

"Look!" said Natsu, pointing at one of the dragons, "It's just like Igneel!"

"Yeah, it looks good," said Erza, looking pointedly at the scarf still wrapped around his neck but shrugging and looking away. I was relieved she would let him keep on that scarf.

"OK," said Erza, "We're all set, let's go."

"Why are we all wearing something black?" I mused, when we walked outside.

"We all wear something black usually anyway," said Erza, "Sir, let's go."

"Yes," agreed the King, walking ahead and us following.

After a short walk to the pier, we saw the wooden bridge across the water and boxes and crates were scattered around.

"Hide," ordered Erza, nodding at a set of crates and boxes.

"Demo, Erza!" whined Natsu, now carrying Happy, because he couldn't fly, "I thought we were going to kick that guy's ass!"

"See, this is what we're worried about," I said to Natsu, ducking behind the crates, "You want to beat up everyone so badly, you don't even know what's at stake here."

Natsu pouted but said no more. We were able to watch the King through a crack in the boxes in case something went wrong. Sure enough, a shady guy walked up and said some stuff to the King which we couldn't hear for we were out of earshot. The King looked angry though.

"Maybe he's taunting him or something," said Natsu, "Come on, let's beat him up!"

"Shut up," hissed Gray.

Finally, the King handed over the briefcase. The shady guy reached into his pocket, looking around for anyone witnessing, luckily not noticing us. I saw a glint and widened my eyes.

"Gray!" yelled Erza.

"Ice Make Shield!" said Gray, making a shield in front of the King just as we heard a gunshot.

"Go, go, go!" shouted Erza, jumping straight over the crates and charging towards the guy, using Requip magic on the way. I ran out and grabbed a key, not bothering to see who it was. I trusted that any of my spirits could take care of the job. I glanced at the key, "Gate of the Ram, I open thee! Aries!"

She came out, shy as always, "A-Ano… I will try my best…"

"Aries, we have to get that shady guy!" I said, pointing at him.

"H-Hai!" said Aries, "Wool Bomb!"

The shady guy was running away now, knowing he was busted. Erza was thrusting her swords at him and Natsu was running after him, screaming like crazy, like Gray except Gray had a bazooka.

Once the wool hit them all, everyone was instantly mellow and happy.

"Ah… so comfy," sighed Natsu, drooling a bit as he nearly fell asleep.

"Get up," said Erza commandingly but she, herself was nearly asleep as well.

"Good job," I murmured to Aries.

"A-Arigato Gozaimasu!" said Aries.

"You don't have to be so nervous," I said, "We're friends, remember?"

"Hai!" said Aries, fading away.

I walked up to the shady guy, whose hood had fallen back, revealing his face. I looked at him. He was fairly young in his mid-twenties at least. He had short, curly chestnut brown hair and a little bit of a beard. I felt a stab of recognition. I had seen this man somewhere before. Where was it…?

"OK, spit it out," Gray said to the guy if he was listening, walking up, "Where the princess is, your base and who you work for."

Gray tugged on the guy, until he was out of the cloud. He put him on the ground and aimed his bazooka gun at him.

The shady guy was immediately alert once he was out of the wool, "What the hell are you guys doing? Are you allied with the King?"

"Yes, we are!" shouted Natsu, running up.

"Don't knock him out!" shouted Erza, grabbing Natsu by the collar of his jacket, "We need answers."

The King walked up then and demanded of the man, "Tell me where my daughter is!"

"Like Hell!" yelled back the guy, "We're never giving you back your daughter until you hand over the kingdom!"

"The—" Erza said, turning on the King, "What? You never told us that was what you had to pay!"

"I said I couldn't afford the pay," the King said, glaring daggers at the man, "As long as my daughter comes back safe and unhurt, it will be fine. That's why I asked for your services."

"So now you pay people to do your dirty work!" shouted the man.

The King looked as if he had exploded from the inside. He marched forward, his fist raised.

"How is saving the princess 'dirty work'?" I asked.

He turned to look at me properly, "You… Lucy—"

That was as much he had out of him before the King punched him out. I was still racking my brain for where I had seen this guy before. And he knew me as well since he knew my name.

"Wow, good punch," said Natsu, whistling.

"Sir!" cried Gray, "We needed answers from him!"

"I'm sorry," said the King, half grumbling, "He was just making me angry."

"Hey, welcome to my world!" said Natsu.

"Shut up," said Erza.

"OK," I said, searching through my keys for the one I was looking for, "Gate of the Twins, I open thee! Gemini!"

The two twins popped out and started playing around with each other.

"OK, Gemi and Mini," I said, "I need you two to do something for me. Copy this guy, OK?" I pointed to the unconscious guy.

"OK," they both said simultaneously. In a second, they had transformed and started delivering facts, "His name is Ladin and he works for the group who kidnapped the princess, Fallen Dark."

"Nice name," muttered Natsu.

"Where's the base?" I asked, ignoring Natsu's comment.

"The base is on the north-west coast and it is a big building surrounded by a huge set of rocks to hide it from the public. Fallen Dark only has a few members. The leader, Nero and the other member, a fire mage, Infra."

"Great, that's good information!" praised Erza, "Thank you, Gemini!"

"It's," said Gemi, transforming back.

"OK," finished Mini before they both disappeared.

"I'm going!" said the King, marching ahead.

"No, no, sir!" shouted Erza, pulling him back, "It's better if you retreat to somewhere safe. We can't be worrying about you if we're fighting two possible mages."

The King said reluctantly, "All right. I'll leave the rest to you, then." He walked away, back in the direction of town.

"All right, let's go," said Natsu running off, "North west, right?"

"Natsu, wait!" I yelled, running after him.

"Both of you!" yelled Erza, running, "Come on, Gray!"

Gray ran after us, yelling at Natsu.

"WAIT, NATSU!" all three of us yelled.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed Natsu and Happy.


	5. Infra

Chapter Five: Infra

"NATSU!" I shouted, "Would you just WAIT?"

"OK, you know what," said Erza, her magic circle appearing, "NATSU!"

About 20 swords flew toward Natsu and Happy.

Natsu immediately stopped once he saw Erza's dark face which was scarier than the devil.

"Thank you," said Erza, as the swords disappeared. We were able to catch up as Natsu slowed down, Happy following suit.

"Nani?" said Natsu, looking impatient, "We said the sooner we save the princess, the better, right?"

"Yeah and the sooner you rush in there like a mad bull, the sooner the trigger is pulled," said Gray.

Natsu still looked like he had ants in his pants, "Fine," he said, pouting.

"Is it fine?" I asked, "Or are you going to spiral out of control again?" As soon as I saw Natsu's expression, I softened my tone, "We're sorry, we're just worried. We know it's your personality to care so much about people, you're willing to fight for them but the princess might be killed. Promise, OK?" I held out my hand with my little finger raised. Sure it was the most clichéd thing to ever live but it would be a definite promise if we did it this way.

"OK," said Natsu reluctantly, hooking my little finger with his.

"I have no little finger but I promise!" said Happy.

"Good," I smiled, "Now let's go."

Natsu, surprisingly, walked in time with us as we went to the north-west coast. The sun was high, probably about 12 0' clock noon. The coast was very pretty with golden sand and crystal clear water. Pink and white shells dotted the sand and smooth and rough and brown rocks covered one side. The back of the beach had cliffs so there was pretty much no one to be in danger of our fights with the possible mages. There was no beach house or boardwalk or anything which anyone would visit.

"This is it," said Erza, pointing to the rocks, "You think maybe they have guards?"

"I thought there were only three members," said Gray.

"Maybe that doesn't include the guards," said Erza.

"Maybe we should plan, just to be safe," Happy suggested.

"Right," I agreed.

"Fine," shrugged Erza.

We walked back to the other side of the beach, shielded from view with more rocks. Natsu picked up a stick and started doodling in the sand, "So, if there are any guards, we beat the crap out of them and then we each break off separately to look for the princess. Good plan, right?"

"There are two mages left," said Erza, "If Ladin comes back, there will be three. I'm pretty sure a little knock on the head won't keep him out of action. There are four of us so three of us with take on the three mages and the one left will find the princess."

"I want to fight!" volunteered Natsu obviously.

"I expected that," said Erza, "I personally want to fight as well so…"

"Lucy, you're good at communicating with people, making them feel better," said Gray, "You're probably better off finding the princess.

"If you want to fight, just say it," I said jokingly.

"I just don't want you to be in danger," said Gray quietly.

"He llllikes you!" said Happy, rolling his l's.

"Anyway," said Natsu, taking the stick off Erza, "I think we should go in different ways. I want to sneak in the back!"

Erza sighed, "All right. Maybe that is a good idea. I'll go in through the side. We'll have to find our own way around. That leaves you two," she gestured to Gray and me, "To go in through the front. All right?"

"Sure," I said, not minding in the least. Although I'd already used two spirits, I was pretty sure I'd have enough magic power to last through the mission.

"OK, now that we know our plan," said Gray, "Let's go!"

We went over the rocks and Natsu jumped up the rock cliff-face to the back of the base, "Come on, Happy!"

"Aye!" said Happy.

"Good luck," said Erza before she went, too.

"All right," I said, walking towards the rocks where the base was. I considered asking Gray about the Gemini issue now but I figured I'd do it later when we were alone again and weren't on an important mission. As I climbed up the rock, Gray following, trying to be as silent as we could, I saw a sparkle of a crimson magic circle and then a blast of fire just as I reached the top of the rock. It was going straight at me!

"Lucy, watch out!" shouted Gray knocking me forward so the fire missed me by a bit. I felt some hair singe as some fire connected but not enough to set my hair on fire. We hit the ground at the same time and I looked at Gray behind me, "Gray? Are you OK?"

"Oh… a smart one," said the mage, unexpectedly, a female, "Not the usual type who come charging in here." She laughed a normal, slightly deep sound. I looked up at her.

She had blood-red hair cascading down her down and resting at her waist, stick straight. She wore a black headband with three black roses at one end and had bright, jet black eyes. Her mouth and nose was normal, her neck slim, leading down to her top. Her top had a red base and two red dragons crossing over each other, their heads dipped to form a heart, also showing off her chest. She wore a short plain black mini-skirt, showing off her black stiletto boots. She was actually quite pretty in a way.

As soon as she saw my face, her black eyes widened, "Lucy!"

"You know me too?" I cried.

She opened her mouth but quickly shut it, "Once but not now. You don't remember me anymore."

I looked at her, confused. Her appearance was pretty memorable. If I'd seen her before, I'd definitely had remembered her. I tried to remember the name Gemini had mentioned… The fire mage…

"Infra," I said, "The fire mage, Infra."

"You…" she stammered, "You know my name?"

"This chick's crazy," said Gray, looking at her, "You know her?"

"I… don't…" I said, not sure what I knew anymore.

"We got the name of the Celestial spirit, Gemini," Gray answered for me, "Lucy's a Celestial mage."

Infra ignored that, "Lucy… You… You're helping the King…" Her eyes were on the ground.

"Of course I am!" I blurted out, "You kidnapped the princess."

"No," she said, looking at me in the eye again, "You don't remember us at all; otherwise you'd know our reasons. Sorry, but… I have to kill you."

!

The crimson magic circle appeared and a dragon made of fire burst out straight at me.

"Shield!"

Gray was suddenly standing in front of me, making a really thick shield to hold back the fire as much as possible. Although some of it was already disintegrating. I could tell he was using up much magic power.

"Gray!" I cried, reaching to my belt. I fished around for the key I wanted. Aquarius who would be the best bet to beat Infra. As I was about to summon her, Gray shouted at me, "Lucy, run!"

"Are you crazy?" I yelled at him, "You're at disadvantage here! I have to help you!"

"Run!" Gray repeated, "One of us has to find the princess and one of us has to fight this mage and better me than you."

"Gray, I can handle her!" I said, "What happened to helping your friends? Isn't that what it means to be in a guild?"

"I can't let you go again!" shouted Gray, as if he had been dying to say this all along, "When I let you go back home, the place you hate so much… I can't do that again… I can't let you leave me… And this time you might not be able to come back…"

I was shocked. I had never heard Gray say anything with that amount of impact. I knew what he was implying, that I might die if I fought one-on-one with Infra. I swallowed hard, hoping this wouldn't be the last time I saw him, "OK."

I ran away, leaving Gray to Infra. It was hard, but it was obvious it would hurt Gray more if I stayed. I ran into the base, fighting tears the whole way. The base was practically a maze with a lot of corridors and passages to go through. I ran through each corridor based on my first instinct and hoped I wouldn't get too lost.

_Gray… _I thought, crying, _please survive._


	6. Runes

Chapter Six: Runes

I rounded another corner, not really paying attention to where I was going. I could have been running in circles and I wouldn't have noticed because of the tears in my eyes. Although, my hearing was still sharp so I pulled up short when I heard voices around the next corner.

"Finally, some excitement around here," said one guy to another, "The foolish King has finally made a move."

I inched to the edge of the corner and peered stealthily around it. There was only one way to go, two double doors with a little sign above it stating it was the Guards' Room. So they did have some followers. After making sure the coast was clear, I walked quietly to the doors, hoping my boots didn't make too much noise on the hard floors.

I looked inside through a little glass panel in each door and saw many men and women dressed in black outfits. They each had different outfits but it was all black. I scanned the room, looking for some sort of secret entrance or some other way to get to the room other than through the front. Then I saw red hair.

_Infra? _I thought, peering closely. Then the woman turned around and Erza looked back at me. Of course she would blend in here since she was wearing black and there were so many people, no one would have noticed her. Her eyes widened slightly and mouthed, _where's Gray?_

I must have started tearing up again because Erza bit her lip and nodded slowly. Then she stood up and her magic circle appeared. All the guards looked up at her in surprise, and then Erza transformed into her usual armour and got a sword out of another circle.

"'Titania' Erza!" yelled one person, "She's working for the King!"

There was a huge ruckus in the room and I decided to step in now. As soon as I ran in, everyone turned towards me, except Erza, busy slashing up people.

"Gate of the Crab, I open thee!" I said, taking out Cancer's key, "Cancer!"

As he appeared, Cancer looked around the crowd, "There are lots of people this time, -ebi."

"We have to help Erza," I said, unhitching my whip, "Onegai, Cancer!"

Cancer nodded and charged through the crowd with his scissors and attacked many people in the crowd. I used my whip to keep most of them at bay and prevent them from escaping. The last thing we needed was someone running to warn everyone the King's spies were in the building.

In a few minutes, the crowd was defeated. It turned out there were only three mages; the rest were normal people with guns and swords. I ran to the other side of the room, walking around the unconscious people scattered on the ground. On the other side of the room, directly opposite the door I was peeking in, was another corridor with a corner to turn. There was no door in front of it so either it never had one or we had blown it straight off its hinges when we were fighting.

"I'll check if the coast is clear," said Cancer, who was closer.

"Yeah," I said, skipping around a KO'd man. Erza was close behind me.

As Cancer ran through the corridor and checked around the corner, he nodded to Erza and me and ran around the corner. Then a red glow shone around the corner and my intuition flickered, "Cancer! Come back!" I got out his key and made a forced gate close.

A second after I did, a fire blast hit the wall. Whoever had done it was around the corner and I had a good idea who.

"Infra!" I yelled, running through the corridor. I looked back to explain to Erza who Infra was but she was standing in the room was the unconscious people.

"Erza?" I said, turning around, "Come on, we have to hurry!"

"I… can't…" said Erza, glaring at whatever was preventing her from coming.

_Don't tell me… _I walked to the place where the room and corridor connected and knocked it with my hand.

Sure enough, purple symbols appeared. _Runes!_

"Redheaded humans can't pass through this side," read Erza, glaring murderous intent.

I tried to go back through so we could find another way to go through together but I couldn't, no matter how hard I pushed on the Runes.

Some more symbols appeared and I read them aloud, "Once you have passed through from either side, you cannot go back."

"Nani?" I yelled, kicking the Rune wall. Someone had sure planned this out right.

"Lucy," said Erza seriously, "You'll just have to go by yourself. I'll try to find another way in."

"Demo—" I said.

She already ran away.

I took a few deep breaths.

_Impossible, _I thought, _how could she have beat Gray so quickly? She must be really strong…_

After I calmed myself down, I rounded the corner and looked up expectedly.

Infra was standing there, not one hair ruffled, not one spot of dirt on her, nothing was given away to show she'd just had a fight with a mage. I couldn't believe it.

"And… you again, Not-Lucy," said Infra casually, arms folded across her chest.

"What did you do to Gray?" I demanded shakily, not summoning up nearly as much courage as I wanted. I was too afraid of what I thought I was about to hear.

"Gray?" said Infra, playfully thinking, "Oh yeah, the Ice mage. Of course I defeated him. Our elements are merely not fit for each other and even the weather was on my side. You wouldn't believe how quickly his ice melted," she laughed again, "with my fire and the heat working against it. 15 minutes tops was how long it took."

"But…" I said, shaking even more, "Is he… Did you…"

She rolled her eyes, "I never kill those I have a sliver of respect for. The fact he was willing to sacrifice himself for your sake was quite worthy of my respect. He's just being held captive in the same room as the princess. Although, don't be too relieved. If he does anything suspicious, we'll kill him. We are on opposing sides, after all."

I nodded, shaking less now, "Thank you."

She seemed taken aback by that, "'Thank you?" she said in disbelief, "I mock your teammate and say we might kill him and all you have to say is 'thank you'? Did you hate him or something?"

"No," I replied, smiling slightly, "You let him live. That's all I wanted."

She blinked and looked surprised at me before shaking herself and snapped back to reality, "Whatever. It's not like it changes anything. I'm still going to kill you."

She charged straight at me instead of firing fire like I expected her to and leapt at me, hitting me in the face. I stepped back a few steps, clutching my face which was probably going to swell up. I had never been good in close combat. Now seemed like a good idea to improve.

I sensed her coming at me again, so I thrust my arm forward as hard as I could. I could feel the sound as it connected to her shoulder, jarring my hand as well and Infra leapt back. I could see the surprise in her eyes. Obviously, close combat wasn't her strongest point and she only used it because she'd underestimated me.

Clutching her shoulder with one hand, she made her magic circle and this time, a phoenix came out. I jumped to the side as it came past and hit the wall behind me, making it burst into flames. I put my hand to my keys but winced as I did so. I suddenly realised my magic power was running low. How many spirits had I summoned today? Aries, Gemini and Cancer. Three spirits. I was near my limit and even if I did summon _her, _she couldn't do anything here. Instead, I pulled out my whip and lashed it towards Infra. When it was about to hit her, however, she somehow transported in a ring of flames and appeared next to where she was standing a second ago.

"Oh, by the way," she said, "I can transport to short distances away." She disappeared again and suddenly she was jumping on top of me. She must have transported to the ceiling above me and dropped down. I was knocked down, facing upwards at her and she was pinning me down, a crossbow made of fire pointed at me.

"Wait," I said, realising something, "How did you get past the Runes? You're a redheaded human!"

"Obviously, I was here before Nero made the Runes," she answered simply, "I wouldn't be talking if I were you."

I ignored that, "Why are you doing this? Why did you kidnap the princess?" I yelled.

"Shut up!" she shouted, "You don't understand, none of you! This island is messed up and we're trying to do something about it!"

_Island, _I thought, suddenly, a plan forming in my mind.

Infra pressed the point of the crossbow down until it was practically touching my neck, "Now you'll die."


	7. Mizu

Chapter Seven: Mizu

Infra pointed her crossbow at me and I shut my eyes, praying for some miracle to happen. After a few seconds and I was still alive, I dared to open my eyes and look at Infra, but then quickly shut them again since maybe Infra was sadistic and probably wanted me dead with my eyes open or something like that.

Then something cold hit my cheek and trickled down the side. I opened my eyes in surprise at that. The whole wall behind Infra had burst into flames so there couldn't possibly be any moisture left in the room. I looked at Infra and saw she had tears like tiny diamonds in her eyes.

More tears fell and hit me on the face as she kept on crying. I had no idea why she was but this was my chance. I had to somehow get her to go along with my plan so that if she recovered and decided to kill me again, she couldn't.

I shoved my arms up and pushed her back, rolling to my side and breaking free of her grasp. Then I unhitched a key from my belt, looking briefly at it to make sure it was the right one. It was, "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!"

As she appeared, I winced and panted a bit. That was four spirits.

"Is it time for punishment, hime-sama?" asked Virgo as usual.

"Not now," I said, still panting a bit, "I need you to drill a tunnel straight down until you reach the ocean. Can you do that?"

"Hai," said Virgo immediately, although she looked a bit surprised. She got right to drilling downwards as I unhitched the next key I would use.

"Drilling a tunnel?" said Infra, standing back up, panting a bit now too. It was hard to breathe in the smoke of the fire. My throat burned with every pant, "What would drilling a tunnel do?" She ran straight at me again and I realised she was nearly out of magic power too from her two fights with me and Gray. She had a few scratches now, a bruise on her shoulder and some tears in her clothing. I was pretty sure I looked the same as her except with a bruised face.

On cue, water splashed up from the tunnel and Virgo burst back up, "Was that too long, Hime-sama?"

"No, right on time," I smiled, "Thank you, Virgo."

She bowed slightly and faded away and I unhitched my next key, "Gate of the Water Bearer I open thee!" I panted but I had to stay strong. It was nearly over now, "Aquarius!"

"Nani?" said Infra in disbelief as Aquarius appeared.

"Aquarius!" I said happily.

"What a dump!" said Aquarius naturally, "Where the hell am I? It's too hot! What's your problem, summoning me out here?" she yelled at me, her head expanding.

"How…?" said Infra, edging away.

"Water's your weakness, right?" I said, "I knew that from the beginning. But, since we aren't near any source of water, Aquarius wouldn't be able to do anything. I figured you'd be smart enough not to follow me outside so I just had to bring the water here. I had that plan ever since you mentioned the word 'island' and I realised the ocean was beneath us. I just had to dig a tunnel for it to come up."

"Geez, you better not be planning to keep me out longer than five minutes, you hear me?" shouted Aquarius, "I have a date with my _boyfriend_."

"As soon as you help me with her, you can go," I said.

"Fair enough," said Aquarius, getting her urn and absorbing lots of water.

"Gomenasai, Infra," I said, "But I have to do this."

Aquarius flung water at her, flooding the whole corridor so there was no chance of her escaping. Hopefully, if my plan was successful, the current would carry Infra straight through the Runes and she couldn't come back in because of that rule: _Once you have passed through from either side, you cannot go back._

"Well, that's her taken care of," declared Aquarius, "I'll just be getting back to my date with Scorpio…"

The rest of her words appeared to be an unintelligible slur of words to me as I became dizzy and tired, my vision blurring slightly. I was aware however, when Aquarius looked down at me, genuine concern in her eyes, "Lucy? Oi, are you OK?"

"Yeah," I said, standing up, although I wobbled a bit, "I'm just tired… Go, don't worry about me."

"Oh, bullshit, you can barely walk," said Aquarius, "It's actually pretty sad looking at you right now."

I appreciated the rare concern on Aquarius' part but that just wasn't what I needed right now.

"Sorry, Aquarius," I said, taking out her key, "But I'm fine, it's nothing to worry about."

Her eyes flickered to the key and back to me, "Oh, no. Don't you dare use that key to—"

I force closed her gate and leaned against the wall, panting. I had to save Gray and the princess but I'd be pretty useless if I charged in there, barely able to stand up. I was pretty sure Gray wouldn't do anything fishy anyway, since he would probably wait for the rest of us to come.

_I wonder if Erza found another way in, yet? _I wondered. And I hadn't even seen Natsu or Happy. I looked at the black wall where the wall had exploded into flames and then Aquarius' wave put it out, leaving a huge black mark. It was the only interesting thing to look at. Then I saw a flying, blue little thing coming in my direction.

"Lucy!"

Recognition came after a few short seconds, "Happy?" I cried.

"Lucy!" shouted Happy, crashing straight into me, "Ne, are you OK?"

"Yeah, more or less," I answered, "What about Natsu?"

"He's OK," said Happy, "We defeated that Ladin guy when he came back but Natsu kind of got lost so… But then we found Erza and we couldn't find any other way to get into this place so Natsu and Erza have to wait in that room with unconscious people for you and Gray to come back."

"Are you kidding me?" I cried, "Natsu's pink-haired though! He should come through!"

"In the hair types, brunettes, blondes and redheads, Natsu is closest to a redhead."

"I guess," I sighed, "Happy, I don't know if I can! Infra was hard to beat and I have little to no magic power left. What if this Nero guy is the leader or the strongest mage?"

"Demo, Lucy! We have to try!" said Happy, "Natsu and Erza are depending on us!"

_Why can't it be me depending on them? _I thought, but I nodded my head, "OK. But I have to rest a while. I can't fight if I can't walk."

"Yeah," Happy agreed, sitting down next to me.

Just then, we heard a scream, a high one, like a female's and also a gunshot. That was followed by some thumping and some people shouting, both males.

_The princess was the female and Gray and Nero are the males, _my first instincts told me. Either way, they were in danger. I stood up, "Let's go, Happy!" I ran down the corridor, somehow able to run.

"Aye!" said Happy.


	8. Trapped

Chapter Eight: Trapped

As I ran down the corridor with Happy flying behind me, I prayed that the gunshot wasn't at Gray but since his voice was shouting after the shot, I supposed the guy missed or something like that. Although, there was the possibility he was taking his last breaths now. With that thought, I sped up even though I was dead tired.

"Lucy, are you sure you're OK?" asked Happy worriedly.

"Like that matters now," I said, "We're the only two able to do something!" Then, seeing Happy's usual face sad, I added more gently, "I'm sorry. It's just… I know I have to get stronger, maybe one day; I'll be as strong as Erza, Natsu or Gray. But I'm just afraid I'll do the wrong thing."

"Like what?" asked Happy.

"I don't have much experience with S-ranked missions," I said, "I've only had the Galuna Island one, Oracion Seis and that Battle of Fairy Tail time and all those times, I had someone to guide me like Erza, Natsu or Gray and now I'm on my own… and I'm afraid I'll do something wrong."

"You won't," said Happy reassuringly, "You'll always do the right thing, Lucy."

"Thanks," I said, smiling. We neared two huge teal blue doors. I flung them open, not bothering to peek. I could be one second too late to regret it for the rest of my life. The scene before me surprised me.

The room was pretty much completely blue, except the enormous window that stretched all around the circular room. At the front of the room, just touching the window, was a black chair with wheels, seated behind a plain brown table. There wasn't anything on the table except a few papers and pens scattered about. The next thing I noticed was the princess who was not tied up or gagged or had a gun pointing at her head which surprised me. She looked completely free, unscratched and beautiful as ever.

The next thing I noticed was Gray whose hands were tied with rope and sitting at one side of the room. He looked terrible with scratches and tears in his clothes, although it was still in one piece. There were also some stairs leading out of the room.

"Gray!" I cried, practically crying with joy.

"Lucy, move!" yelled Gray.

"Nani?" I said before a huge, iron-barred cage fell around me, already locked.

"Lucy!" said Happy, who was on the other side of the cage, not trapped.

_Go, _I mouthed to him. I pointed at the blue stairs leading out of the room, _Tell Natsu and Erza there's an entrance here and see if they can get past it! _

Happy looked reluctant but quietly floated away just as a figure walked in the room. He was middle-aged, older than Ladin, probably in his thirties. He had a long, oval face and slightly curly black hair on the top of his head, looking like bed-head hair. He also had dark, pitch black eyes and pointed features. His figure was tall and slightly muscled under his black pants and V-Neck T-shirt. Out of the three mages, he was the most casually dressed. I also noticed he had a glinting black earring stud in the shape of a heart which was usually girly but it somehow suited him.

"And so the last one came," said the guy, obviously Nero, "One is captured, two can't go anywhere and the other is caged." He gestured to the table, a black magic circle appearing, "Want to see them?"

Suddenly, a yellow screen appeared and showed the scene of Natsu and Erza. Natsu, of course, had a thousand arms, continually bashing the Runes with no success. Erza was kneeling over a redheaded mage. Infra! The room looked wet from Aquarius' wave. I also noticed a blue figure on the other side of the Runes. Happy!

"Archive Magic?" I said, surprised, remembering the magic that Hibiki used.

"Oh, a bright one," said Nero, "Lucy."

"OK, you know what?" I said, "All day so far, your guild, or organization or what have you have told me I'm Lucy, then I'm Not-Lucy, then I'm Lucy again! How do you people know me?"

"I can't tell you," said Nero, "You're our enemy now." His glare was as cold as ice, "I always thought better of you."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I nearly yelled, "My head is literally going to explode with everyone telling me they know me when I don't know them and that I'm now working for the King when YOU kidnapped the princess!"

"Ano, Lucy…?" said the princess suddenly, speaking up for the first time. She was looking at the floor though, shy.

"Chantelle?" I asked.

Her head automatically swivelled in my direction, "You know my name, Lucy san?"

"Of course; we're supposed to save you," said Gray.

"But… I don't need—" began Chantelle.

She cut off then, when she saw Nero shaking his head at her.

"I have to go and do something," said Nero, careful not to specify what he was doing. He looked at Chantelle, "Come, Chantelle."

She obediently followed him down the stairs of her own will. I stared after her in surprise. She said she didn't need something. Our help? And there was something else about the way Nero looked at her. Not love as in boyfriend-girlfriend since he's thirty something and she's barely more than 19 but in a loving manner, like a father might look at his beloved daughter. That shocked me as well. Maybe we'd misjudged Fallen Dark.

_In any case, _I thought, _I have to help Gray._

I tried to glimpse the lock of my cage. The lock was a simple one with a funny keyhole. It seemed to be something that you'd scan across. I thought hard. What would you scan across something like this? It could be anything! Then I suddenly remembered something.

_A heart, _I thought, _Infra had two dragons in the shape of a heart. Nero had a heart earring. Somewhere on Ladin, he must have had a heart something as well. The thing I need to scan is something in the shape of a heart!_

I looked at my clothes which had no heart shapes. Then my eyes wandered to the whip I had attached to my belt. It had a heart shaped end. I picked it up and carefully sticking my hand out, I pressed it against the scan thing. It made a quiet beep once and the lock fell off. It clattered to the floor and Gray's head popped up, looking at what I was doing. His eyes nearly came out of his head when he saw my lock off. I quickly tugged the door back so it still looked like I was trapped and picked the lock off the ground, stuffing it in my skirt. I would wait for a good opportunity to catch Nero off guard and save Gray.

I put a finger to my lips at Gray and he nodded and smiled. Footsteps echoed off the steps as Nero and Chantelle came back up. I immediately put on a solemn face, Gray following suit.

"What was that clatter sound?" asked Nero, coming back up. He went over to the desk and saw a pen dropped on the floor, "Oh that must have been it." He picked it up and placed it back on the desk.

"Well," said Nero, quietly pacing the room, "You people know our hideout and where the princess is. That's particularly bad if the King were to find out such information. Therefore, none of you will make it out alive."

He pulled out a silver shotgun from out of nowhere and pointed it at Gray, "First the boy, then Lucy."

I widened my eyes and my hand automatically went to my belt so I could summon one in front of Gray to protect him but I hesitated, _Spirits aren't shields… _my own voice echoed in my head. Besides, I had no magic power or enough time. I looked up at Gray, terrified. My whip wouldn't make it there in time if I had to unhitch it again and I had no other weapon.

I shoved open the door of the cage.

He pulled the trigger.


	9. Recognition

Chapter Nine: Recognition

The trigger was pulled.

The sound echoed in my ears as I panted, standing in front of Gray. I held in my scream as the bullet ripped through my flesh. I coughed out some blood and fell down on my knees, my hands supporting me. As I did, my glove slipped off my hand and the bullet fell out, a bloodied metal thing on the ground as my wound bled. The bullet hadn't cut deep but it wasn't shallow either.

"Lucy!" yelled Gray, obvious worry in his voice.

"Fairy Tail…" said Nero suddenly, recognising the mark on my hand, "I see…"

"Protecting your friends," I said, holding my wound with my hand and having the other hand on the ground. I pushed up and stood up shakily, "Protecting your friends. That's what it means to be in a guild."

Nero dropped the gun. Chantelle ran to my side, "Are you OK, Lucy?" Her eyes were wide and she looked as if she were going to be sick. Of course princesses weren't used to seeing someone being shot.

"Yes," I panted.

"Nero, it's enough," said Chantelle, walking over and untying Gray's knots, "These people misunderstood the situation. You can't kill them for that."

"Misunderstood the— what?" I said.

"LUCY! GRAY!" yelled Natsu suddenly, barrelling up the stairs, "LUCY! What happened? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, HUH?" He shouted at Nero, his fist bunched up.

"Natsu, stop it!" I said, "These people have a lot to explain."

"I think Lucy's right," said Chantelle.

Nero nodded. He looked at the stairs and on cue, Infra and Ladin stumbled into the room. Ladin was beaten badly by Natsu and Infra looked better, smiling slightly at me.

"Lucy!" said Gray, crouching next to me, "Are you OK?"

"Yeah…" I said. My vision shifted and blurred. The aching pain in my side of my stomach where the bullet hit wasn't fading, in fact, it was increasing in pain and falling, then rising again.

His arms went around me and held me close to him, "I'm sorry, Lucy."

Then I blacked out.

…

I opened my eyes slowly, making out shapes in the light before I recognised them. Natsu was looking straight at my face, "Hey! She's awake!"

"Hontou?" said Erza and Gray by the sound of it. A door opened and closed and then Erza and Gray were leaning over me. Happy sat on Natsu's head.

My vision became clear and I found my voice to ask, "Where am I?"

"You're in our base's infirmary," said Ladin. I looked over to him and saw his face had bandages and some cream had been put on the less serious injuries, "After you fainted, we figured it'd be best to wait until you wake until we told you the whole story."

I sat up and a faint ache hit me in my side and I automatically winced.

"Careful, it's not completely healed yet," said Natsu, he and Gray helping me sit up.

Infra came forward, her shoulder and face bandaged. Nero was the same.

"We're not who you think," said Nero.

Chantelle came in then and gave me some water.

"Thank you," I said, amazed by how thirsty I was. Chantelle sat in a chair at the end of my bed and listened.

Nero smiled at her and continued, "Our guild, as we like to refer to ourselves, have all come from wealthy families."

"Really?" said Gray, "Wow, I never would have thought."

"Yeah," said Ladin, continuing on, "We've all come from wealthy families and we were often lonely and isolated from other kids. Our family always had no time for us and we were often very upset so we learned magic and usually sneaked out to the town guilds. When our family found out, they were furious and always expected us to inherit their fortune when they passed away. But we wanted more out of life. We're from three separate wealthy families in the same place so we were friends when our families met up and stuff. Nero was 17 at the time; I was only seven and Infra was six. We always looked up to Nero as our big brother and when he proposed to sneak out, we didn't hesitate. We wanted to leave, explore life and then we came up with the idea of Fallen Dark where we would help other wealthy people feeling isolated and upset to take them to a better place where they would be happier."

"Well," I said, "How do you know me? That's what I wanted to know from the start."

"Well," said Nero, "We heard the Heartfilia family had a child, namely you, who felt alone when your mother passed away and whose father never paid attention to you. So we paid a visit one day when your father was on a business conference. The staff were easy to sneak by. We saw you in the garden where you were near your mother's grave and you were very welcoming to us. You took a real liking to us. By then, I was 27 and Ladin was 17. Infra was 16. We loved you and you were only 6. But then your Dad came home and he was furious when he recognised us and what we were doing. You know, back when he only cared about money and wanted you to inherit the fortune?"

"Yeah," I nodded; surprised I didn't remember any of this.

"Your father ran away to call the police," said Infra, laughing, "It was pretty funny."

Ladin chuckled, "But you were devastated when we said we were leaving," his voice rose to a higher pitched voice, "'When will you come back, onii-chans, nii-chan?"

"We had to leave," said Nero, "Infra left first and we had to do something Infra doesn't know about."

"What?" said Infra.

"You were the youngest and you loved her to pieces," said Ladin, "We couldn't let you know."

"What was it?" asked Infra.

"We had to make Lucy forget," said Nero, "I cast a spell which made Lucy forget. It broke our hearts to see Lucy that sad we were leaving so we made her forget about us. But you loved her so much," he spoke to Infra, "Like a little sister. You would never have wanted us to make her forget so we had to do it without you knowing."

"So that's why you said I wasn't the same Lucy," I said to Infra, "You didn't know I was forced to forget."

Infra was looking down, then came forward and hugged me, crying, "I'm sorry I tried to kill you. I didn't know."

"It's all right," I said, hugging her.

"That's why none of us had the guts to kill you," said Infra, "You were still the same Lucy we loved."

"We were just surprised when you sided with the King," said Ladin, "I mean, I know we made you forget but it was supposed to be a time spell. It would wear off after a few years and then all your memories would come back, including what our guild was doing so we were surprised when you sided with the King, regardless of you knowing we were helping the princess."

"My father," said Chantelle, "I always got the feeling he just never liked me and only wanted me for my fortune."

"I see," said Erza, "So basically, Fallen Dark is a guild that helps ignored and isolated wealthy people and Lucy was one of those people. You try to help her but had to leave and she was sad so you made her forget about you. But it was a time spell and she was supposed to remember what Fallen Dark's motives were. You were upset because she sided with the King because you thought she remembered but she didn't."

"Basically," said Nero.

"Wait," said Gray to Erza, "You said that the princess would be killed in three days if the King didn't pay the ransom."

"She was held for hostage," said Erza, "Or at least, that's what the paper said. What was I supposed to assume?"

"And you tried to kill the King, though," said Happy to Ladin, "Why?"

"What?" said Chantelle.

"How many secrets are you people keeping?" said Natsu.

"You were going to kill him?" exclaimed Chantelle, horrified, "I never wanted that to happen!"

"We weren't going to kill him," said Ladin, "We just wanted to threaten him so he would 'hand over the kingdom' to you. Remember we wanted to move you somewhere else but you didn't want to leave your hometown? That was the only way to go about it. Threaten the King to give the kingdom to you and everyone is happy."

"I see," said Happy.

Suddenly, we heard the sound of horse hooves clopping over the stones surrounding the base and a lot of them. There was also the sound of a trumpet blaring.

"No way…" said Chantelle, rushing to the window and turning back to us, "It's father!"


	10. Confrontation

Chapter Ten: Confrontation

"The King?" cried Infra, running over to the window and peeking out. She swore under her breath and walked towards the door, "I'll go take care of this freak."

"Wait," said Chantelle, standing up, "He may ignore me and possibly dislike me, but he's still my father. He took care of me when I was small."

Infra snorted, "If you ask me, the staff take care of you 99.9% of the time. Heck, when I was little, I mistook the butler for my father because he was there more than my Dad ever was."

"Still," said Chantelle, "I disapprove of any murder on your hands."

I tried to get up, out of bed, "The Fairy Tail wizards should probably get out there," I said, "No doubt if they see any members of Fallen Dark, they'll shoot you on the spot. But if we slowly explain to the King's army, they'll probably take our side and the King will be helpless."

"Good plan," said Natsu, "Then we can each have a go hitting him!"

Chantelle turned pale.

I held up my pinky meaningfully for Natsu and mouthed, _you promised, remember?_

"Oh yeah," said Natsu, "But then what are we supposed to do with him?"

"That'll be up to Chantelle," said Erza, "As the King_ will _hand over the kingdom, Chantelle will be Queen and she'll decide what she wants to do with him. We are only to follow her orders, understand?" she said sternly to Natsu, Gray and me.

Each of us nodded.

"Although, I wouldn't say it's healthy to move in your condition," said Erza to me.

"I'm fine," I said for the tenth time. I climbed out of bed and tried to force the aching pain to go away, "Let's go."

The Fairy Tail wizards and Chantelle walked outside. I blinked in the bright sunlight. How could it still be this bright? It should be night by now. Then I realised I must have been unconscious overnight. The King was standing there in his royal robes and guards and the army surrounding him with horses behind them.

"Chantelle!" cried the King. I realised now he had no love in his voice, just pure relief that he still has an heir to the throne.

"Father," said Chantelle, her face not giving anything away.

"Well done, wizards!" the King said, "You shall be rewarded for this!"

"Actually, we're not," said Erza suddenly, looking the King straight in the eye, "Our guild doesn't accept rewards from requests made for the wrong reasons."

"Nani?" said the King, "You saved the princess of our town! That's surely the right reason," he chuckled nervously.

"Do you know what Fallen Dark is, sir? Do you?" asked Gray.

"Of course! They're kidnappers!" said the King.

"Fallen Dark, sir?" said one guard, surprised, "You never said the people who took her were Fallen Dark. They're a well-known guild for saving all unloved and upset wealthy people."

"They're kidnapping the wrong person!" said the King, "My Chantelle is the most loved girl in the world!"

"When, sir?" I asked, "When have you ever told Chantelle you loved her and let her know she 'is the most loved girl in the world'?"

"I…" said the King, "You remember, Chantelle!" he cried.

"No father, I don't remember any time you ever told me you loved me," said Chantelle, "You've never liked any of my friends or asked about my day. I can't even remember the last time you've even talked to me about something other than business or how wealthy our family is. _If _there was even a time," she added.

The King was silent, glaring at the ground.

"Just admit it," said Natsu, "You've never seen your daughter as anything but an heir to give the fortune to, to keep _your _reputation alive. Have you ever considered she might want more than that? That she might want to explore the world or even have friends she can share everything with? But you won't let her have any of that for _your _sake."

"Think about it!" said Happy to the guards and army, "When was one time when you saw any sign of love from the King for his daughter?"

Murmurs from the army went up: "When I think about it, the staff have done everything for Princess Chantelle", "the King never had told his daughter he loves her", "maybe the wizards are right. Maybe Fallen Dark really was trying to help the princess".

"So what if I want to keep my reputation alive?" shouted the King suddenly, shocking us all, "Who keeps your darn town alive, huh? Us, that's who! We have to keep our fortune intact so Crescent Lunar can live!"

"Do you think it might've been so hard to also show your daughter some love while you were helping to fund the town?" I shouted at him, "I'm not saying Crescent Lunar should die, because it shouldn't but would it have been so hard to say 'I love you' to your daughter now and then or give her a hug or something?"

"Fallen Dark is supposed to help ALL unhappy and unloved wealthy people, huh?" said the King, changing the topic. He pointed at me, "Lucy Heartfilia! When have Fallen Dark helped you since your father mistreated you sometimes?"

"They have helped me!" I said, "Or they tried to! Either way, they have tried to help me!"

"But do you remember?" asked the King, "Do you _remember _this happening?"

"No…" I said, "But—"

"How do you know they weren't lying, Lucy?" asked the King, "Maybe they are sadistic killers that lied to disguise themselves?"

"But they told me," I said, "They used magic that makes me forget is all."

"Have you seen them use forgetting magic?" asked the King, "How do you know that's not a lie, as well?"

"OK, sir, way out of line—" began Gray.

"No," said the King, "Now that Lucy knows my reasons as well as yours, she can make the decision. I ask you, Lucy, what is worse? Living a safe life with money and people who love you, or living with possible sadistic killers who are also liars?"

"Lucy—" said Erza.

"No, it's OK," I said, "On previous missions, I've always relied on someone. But now, I've made my own decision and can stand up myself without you guys helping me. I'm improving to be a better mage," I smiled.

Erza's face slowly turned up to a smile, "OK," she said.

_This must be the decision Mother was talking about, _I thought, _I helped my team and now they need my help. I'm the only one able to make this decision because Fallen Dark may or may not have helped me and might not be who they say they are…_

"Well, then, Lucy," said the King, "Who do you believe?"

I sighed, taking many deep breaths. I was sort of nervous but I was certain I was making the right decision. I noticed Fallen Dark walking out and waiting for my decision.

"I believe Fallen Dark," I said firmly.

The King stopped looking so pleased, "Nani?"

"When they told me their story and their motives," I said, "You can see the love in their eyes that they had for me and Chantelle and probably every upset and mistreated wealthy person they ever helped. When I look at your eyes when you're talking about Chantelle, I don't see any of that love. That's what I think."

"Fine," said the King, glaring daggers, "I don't love my daughter! But I don't care about that! The only important thing is our family ruling Crescent Lunar and our money! Men, attack!"

Nobody moved, except Fallen Dark, who walked up to take places beside Fairy Tail. We all looked seriously at the whole army and King standing opposite us.

The King looked around, "Men? Attack!"

"Go, Chantelle," said Happy to Chantelle, nodding forwards.

Chantelle stepped forward and looked at her father, "I'm sorry, father. But I think I can help this island better. I would like for you to hand over the kingdom to me."

The King scoffed, "Ridiculous!"

"Father," said Chantelle seriously, but calmed down, "All right. We'll do this democratically." She looked at the guards and army, "I want you to stand by the one you want to run this island."

The guards and army murmured and moved around.

_Come on, do the right thing, please, _I thought, closing my eyes.

When the troops had made their decision, I dared to open my eyes again. I let out a sigh of relief and saw all the people had gathered near Chantelle.

"Impossible," said the King, falling down to his knees.

Chantelle stepped forward, until she was in front of the former King, "I do understand that it is not a crime to not actually love your daughter but I am upset about the fact that you don't care about our island's population just like ruling them and having money. However, it is still not an official crime. For now, I would like you to still live in the castle; however, you are to do as much as you can for our island and learn the value of hard work. You are also to make an apology speech to our population."

"Nani?" cried the King, "You must not be serious—"

Chantelle looked at him seriously, "Dad."

"All right," said the King, "I'll do it." He smiled, "You're so much like your mother."

Chantelle smiled and knelt down to hug him, "Thank you Dad."

"I love you," said the King.

"I love you too," said Chantelle, sounding as if she were crying, "Let's go home."

They went in the horse carriage, waving goodbye at us and Fallen Dark. Their troops marched after them.

"Bye!" Natsu shouted while the rest of us waved like normal people.

"Bye!" shouted Happy, flying around.

As soon as they were gone, Happy flew straight into me, "Lucy, you did it!"

"Not really, it was Chantelle," I said.

"Good job," said Natsu, putting an arm around me.

"Well done," said Erza, smiling, "You've just improved as an independent mage."

"Lucy," said Gray. I looked over at him, "You did well."

"Thank you," I said, smiling.

The Fallen Dark members came over and started congratulating me. I said each time it was a team effort.

"Hey," I said, "You guys should come visit Fairy Tail! There are great people and it's my dream guild."

"We would, Lucy, but we have lots of other wealthy people to help," said Ladin, "We have to stay put right here."

"OK," I said, hugging them one by one and stopping at Infra, "I'll remember you this time, nii-chan." Before hugging her tightly.

"Thank you, Lucy," said Infra, sounding as if she were crying too.

"We have to go," said Erza, "Bye!"

We all waved goodbye and departed back in the direction of town. I'll visit them when I could but I'll always miss them.


	11. Tears

Chapter Eleven: Tears

As we returned to the castle, the guards let us in without any issues this time. We walked through the big corridors with the huge portraits. We sat down with Chantelle and the King talking and us sharing our stories until we had to leave. We walked down the hall when Natsu suddenly jumped in front of us and started begging.

"Can I go exploring?" asked Natsu excitedly, "Please, please, please?"

"Aye!" said Happy.

"Natsu, you can't—" I began.

"Go nuts," said Erza surprisingly.

"What? Erza—?" I said.

"Whoo-hoo!" shouted Natsu, running away, leaving a trail of dust. Happy was right behind him.

"Don't break anything!" I yelled after him.

"Lucy," said Erza.

"Nani?" I asked, turning around.

Erza and Gray both looked sheepish but Erza spoke first, "Sorry."

"For what?" I asked, my eyes widening, "You didn't even do anything."

"If I had just ignored the idea of covering up our marks, you would never have nearly died or got shot," she looked away, guilty.

"Same with me," said Gray, "I'm sorry you got shot because of me."

"What?" I cried, surprised, "Seriously? Why do you guys think I'm so fragile? I can take some damage too."

"_You nearly died_," Erza emphasised, "I nearly let you die because of covering up your mark. What if that bullet hit somewhere fatal? We probably wouldn't have had enough time to save you."

"But I'm fine now," I said, "And it's OK. Even if I did die, at least I would have died with my friends and I would have accomplished one of my dreams of joining Fairy Tail."

Erza smiled, "This is why you're a great teammate, Lucy."

Gray was quiet the whole time. I opened my mouth to speak when there was a crashing sound downstairs.

"Oh my God, NATSU!" yelled Erza, running in that direction.

"OK…" I said, sweat-dropping a bit. I turned around to speak to Gray but he spoke first.

"I just really worry about you," said Gray, letting a hand resting on my cheek, "Out of everyone in our guild, I worry about you the most." He let his fingers trail down my cheek before resting it back at his side. My face felt warm where he'd touched.

"Just promise never to do that again," said Gray, taking my hands in his, "If you had died in order to protect me, do you know how I could ever live with it? I would see it every day; you getting shot in front of me and when Fallen Dark had to take you to the infirmary. During that whole time, five minutes seemed like five years until they told us you were breathing."

"I'm sorry, I never realised…" I said, "… But I can't promise that I would never take a bullet for another teammate, including you. I just don't work that way." I slipped out my hands and walked down the stairs to where Erza and Natsu were. I saw Natsu standing in a pile of smashed vase pieces. I recognised the colour and pattern.

"Nice," I said, smiling, "A genuine sapphire family symbol vase."

"What?" said Erza, who was kneeling on the ground with a dustpan.

"Each royal family has a vase to represent their family," I explained, "They each have their own unique colour and pattern. Only one has been made especially for each family so it's actually really valuable."

"Great," sighed Erza, "Great job, Natsu, now we have to shell out a bajillion jewels for a vase. How the hell did you break this anyway?"

"I was practising my Wing move," said Natsu, "Maybe Gildarts will be back and I can challenge him!"

"You're probably going to have to defeat me before you beat Gildarts," muttered Erza.

Suddenly Chantelle rounded the corner and her eyes bugged out at the vase on the floor, "Wow. How'd you guys do this?"

"We're cleaning it up," I said, "We'll pay for another one to be made."

"No, no," said Chantelle, "I'm going to run things differently around here. I don't want anything to show I'm anymore superior than my people. Although that vase would never break. Great job on breaking it," she said to Natsu, then to all of us, "Thanks. That's one worry off our hands. You guys won't take the money for your original mission, so here." She fetched out a wallet from her dress pocket and tipped it upside down. A whole wad of jewel notes fell out. She handed the notes to Erza, "This is the money for the help with my father, for completing the original mission: getting me home and breaking the vase. Arigato Gozaimasu," she bowed a little and put her wallet back in her dress, "I hope that's enough for your troubles."

"More than enough," said Erza, flipping through the money, "I can't believe you keep this much in your wallet."

She smiled, "Sunsuke-san!" she called, "Can you clean this up, please?"

A butler came into the room and started dusting up the broken pieces, "A pleasure, Chantelle."

Chantelle smiled, "Oh yes." She left the room and came back shortly after, carrying a fancy box, "These are your gifts in there."

"Gifts, too?" cried Natsu, "Thanks! Yay!" He took the box and opened it, "Hey…"

He lifted out a little figurine type thing. It sat on a black platform and was beautiful.

"Igneel!" cried Natsu, grinning at the figurine.

"When you told me about Igneel," said Chantelle, "When we sat down and talked, I figured out your gift. I love art and carving little figurines. When you told me about Igneel, it was the spitting image of the one I've made. So I'd like you to have it."

"Arigato!" said Natsu, hopping about excitedly.

"Fish!" yelled Happy, pulling out a big fish, "Yay!" He started nibbling on it.

Erza lifted out a smaller box and opened it, "Shortcake!" she said in delight.

I lifted out a smooth black belt with lots of little hooks. I could hang my Celestial keys on it without having to sort through them all the time. There was also a hook for my whip.

"This is great!" I cried, trying to hang a few keys off the belt. They fitted perfectly. There were even little carvings behind each one with the star sign, "I love it! Thanks, Chantelle!"

Gray came walking down then, "Hey, what's going on?"

"We're getting gifts," I said. I handed him the box, "See your present!"

Gray picked out a couple rectangular shapes, "Hey, it's exactly like I wanted! Thanks Chantelle!"

"What is it?" asked Natsu, still holding his figurine.

"Photo frames," said Gray.

"For what?" asked Happy, looking over at me in a knowing way and mouthing, _he llllikes you!_

_He does not! _I mouthed back.

"I thought of this idea a while ago," said Gray, "I wanted a couple frames for pictures of IU I got. She's special to me you know. Maybe I'll slide in a picture of Lyon, too."

"Oh," I said, relieved. But then I thought, _but would I be happy if he told me he was putting a picture of me in one? Wait, why the hell am I thinking this?_

'OK, now we actually really have to go now," said Erza, closing the box after we all slipped our gifts in, "Thank you for everything, Chantelle."

"It's OK," smiled Chantelle, leading us to the doors, "Bye!"

As we walked away, Chantelle waving, I thought about the mission and everything I've discovered as well as the things that happened with Gray.

…

Back in Fairy Tail…

"Did you say anything?" asked Mira, wiping the bench top and passing barrel of alcohol to Cana, "About… you know."

"Nope," I said, "But… I actually feel different about him now… Like… I think I love him."

"Oh…" said Mira, "That's so adorable!" she cried.

"What?" said Juvia, suddenly sitting down in the chair next to me, "What's adorable?"

"Lucy loves Gray!" said Mira happily, "So cute!"

"…Oh…" said Juvia.

"Mira," I hissed, looking over at Gray the same time Juvia did. He thankfully didn't hear and was talking with Elfman but as soon as he saw me, he smiled and went back to the conversation he was having.

"Whew…" I said, "Lucky…"

Then Juvia was suddenly gone.

"Huh? Juvia?" I asked, looking behind me. I saw Juvia walking towards the balcony of the guild, something shining dropping off her face.

_Wait… _I thought, _Is Juvia crying?_

Mira must have noticed too, "Was it what I said?"

"I'll go see," I said.

I leapt off my chair and went after her, "Juvia!"


	12. Lies

Chapter Twelve: Lies

"Juvia!" I called, stepping around the members of Fairy Tail standing around. She could sure walk pretty fast. Finally though, I reached the balcony where Juvia was leaning over the edge. I couldn't see her face but tiny drops of water were still falling from her face.

"Juvia, are you…?" I began when a rumble sounded overhead. I looked up and saw the sky clouded with dark grey clouds. I didn't bother finishing my question if I already knew the answer. Instead I went up next to her and leaned over the edge as well. The rain began to pour down slowly, getting harder each second. I went over and shut the doors so no one from Fairy Tail could interrupt us.

"I'm all right," said Juvia the minute I walked back up next to her.

"Considering the tears and the rain, I'm pretty sure you're not," I said. I handed her a tissue from my pocket but it immediately soaked and withered away. I shrugged and threw it over my shoulder, "Do you want to go somewhere dryer so we can talk?"

She seemed reluctant but then nodded, "OK."

I walked towards the doors but Juvia shook her head, "I don't want to go through the guild looking like this. I don't want anyone to worry unnecessarily."

"Well, how else are we going to get down?" I asked.

Juvia's magic circle appeared and suddenly, I was in a big water bubble with Juvia.

"Here's how," she said, waving her hand. We sped downward and just as we were about to hit the ground, we swooped up and the bubble disappeared, allowing us to drop to the ground softly.

"Wow, I never knew you could do that," I said admiringly.

"What are you talking about?" said Juvia, "I did it at the Tower of Heaven."

"Oh, yeah," I said, remembering, "So where do you want to talk?"

Juvia thought and smiled slightly, "How about a place I used to go when I was little when I was in the area?"

"Sure," I said.

As we went through the dense, vine covered forest, I thought for a second if Juvia knew where she was going but I pushed that thought aside. Juvia was walking through the uneven ground like it was nothing while I was stumbling every second step. She must have been here before to walk so well, never once ducking under something because she knew where everything was. Finally, we reached a large willow tree with its long branches drooping to the ground. Juvia gently pushed them aside and we were in a large space. I nearly gawked at the sight.

A huge, quietly bubbling waterfall was falling down. A river was flowing with water as clear as glass. The banks of the river were wet and an impossible bright green. It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen.

"It's beautiful," I gasped.

"Oh, this isn't it," said Juvia, "Come on."

She went to the base of the waterfall and stepped behind it. She motioned for me to follow her. I did and stepped behind the water to see a large cave that had a floor of smooth, cool rocks and rocky sides. Juvia sat on one side so I sat next to her, "How did you find this place?"

"I was often avoided and pushed around when I was little," said Juvia, "This place was my escape. I loved it here; whenever I was crying, I would come here. That's why the banks here are so green. Because it would always rain here because of me." She laughed softly.

"Speaking of crying, why are you?" I asked, "Crying I mean?"

"It's just…" said Juvia, "I… I love Gray-sama. And the way he looks at you and the way he looks at me, it's pretty obvious who he likes."

"No, he doesn't," I insisted, "He looks at us both the same ways."

"Just then, who do you think he was smiling at? And you love Gray too, don't you? Mira knew it and she pretty much knows everything about our guild."

"I might love Gray," I said, "Probably for the same reasons you love him."

The storm outside just suddenly upped in the loudness. Rain pelted down until I couldn't even see outside. I looked at Juvia and quickly added, "But… don't worry. Gray doesn't love me, at all. None of the guys in our guild have eyes out for other girls, except maybe Alzack and Bisca, right?"

The rain quieted down, suddenly. Juvia looked up, since she'd been staring down the whole time, "Really?"

"Sure," I said, "I mean, Gray probably just smiles at me because we're a team and we spend more time together."

Juvia nodded, taking this into consideration.

"And he does care about you," I said, "He wouldn't have let you fall off the Phantom Lord guild if it were otherwise."

The sun was bright outside.

"Yeah," said Juvia, nodding and smiling happily, "I guess you're right. I guess Gray-sama doesn't love either of us, just as friends."

"Yeah," I said, nodding, thinking, _oh dear God, what have I done? Now what am I supposed to do if what Gemini said was true?_

"Let's go back to the guild," said Juvia, getting up and smoothing her outfit. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and walked out into the bright sunlight. I followed and dried off in the trip back to the guild. No one seemed to notice what had happened except perhaps Mira who waved us over.

"What happened?" she asked softly so no one would overhear.

"Nothing, it's just a little misunderstanding," said Juvia.

"Hey, Lucy," said Natsu walking over and handing me some notes, "There's your share of the reward."

"Oh, OK," I said, just glad that it wasn't Gray who had come with the reward. It would just make things worse if Gray had come and smiled specifically at me and ignore Juvia again.

"Oh, and look forward to a couple of days from now," grinned Natsu.

"What?" I said.

"Your birthday," said Happy.

"It… is," I said, suddenly realising. My birthday was in a couple of days from now. I had never even realised it. In two days, I'd be one year older.

"Hey, that's right," said Mira, looking at the calendar behind her head where a date was circled in red, my birthday.

"I'm going to do something great!" said Natsu, putting his arm around me and laughing, "You're not going to believe it! Ha, ha, ha!"

"Great," I said, "I'll look forward to it."

"Gray says he's going to do something amazing too," added Happy, "The girls of Fairy Tail are all pitching in to give you a present and I actually have no idea what the guys are doing."

"Oh," I said, "OK. I'll look forward to all of it."

"Happy!" said Juvia, splashing water on him, "You spoilt the surprise!"

"I just told Lucy that the girls are pitching in," said Happy, "I didn't tell them what you'd be doing!"

"OK," shrugged Juvia, "I guess that's OK."

I didn't pay attention to any of the other words they said because I was thinking about Gray and his big surprise. The last time Natsu led me on; it turned out to be only for Virgo's help. I wonder if Gray was doing something similar. But then, it wasn't my birthday when Natsu did that. But still…

_What if it's something that'll hurt Juvia…? _I thought, _what will I say then?_


	13. Sick

Chapter Thirteen: Sick

I woke up the next morning with the sun shining in through the windows again. I rolled around sleepily and thought about sleeping in, but forced myself up to go to the guild. I put on my pink camisole and green skirt with the white jacket and black boots.

I yawned sleepily and tied up my hair. I had barely gotten any sleep because I'd been worrying about Gray's big surprise and how I would explain to Juvia if it was needed. I went into the bathroom and splashed water on my face to wake me up. Then I grabbed my new belt with the keys securely hooked on and my whip as well. Then I went out and thought of someone who could help me.

_That's it! _I clicked my fingers.

…

I walked into the guild, knowing exactly who could help me, apart from Mira who looked busy today, modelling for Sorcerer's Magazine apparently. I walked to Levy who was reading a book at a quiet corner table, carefully picking the path farthest away from Gray. I knew Jet or Droy would be here any minute so I would make this quick, "Hey, Levy?"

"Nani?" asked Levy, looking up and putting her book down. I sat down opposite her and began explaining, "Hypothetically, if person A were to supposedly like person B but B didn't like A until very recently and person C was unhappy about this because C liked A, and B and C are friends so B said a possible lie that might really hurt C, how would person B take care of the problem?"

"What?" said Levy, "I honestly didn't get any of that."

"Basically, it's a messed up love triangle," I said, "B and C both like A but he possibly likes B more. C is upset so B tells her a possible lie that may hurt her a lot. So, if you were person B, how would you handle the situation?"

Levy smiled sympathetically, "Luce, I'm not an idiot. You're talking about you, Juvia and Gray."

"Yes, yes, I am, but that's beside the point," I said, "The point is I don't know what to do about this problem."

"So what is the problem, specifically?" asked Levy.

I explained most of the problem with Levy listening the whole time without interrupting. It was just one of the things I liked about her.

"… And I told Juvia there's no way Gray would love me but I'm not sure that's true because of Gemini. If Gray does love me by some chance and Juvia finds out, she'll be really hurt and I don't want that to happen because then I have to choose between my friend and the person I love. Either way, one person will be really hurt. What am I supposed to do, Levy?"

"Have you been avoiding Gray?" asked Levy.

"No," I answered.

Levy looked at me, "Really?"

I thought of how I'd chosen the path farthest away from Gray, "A little… But that's just because I don't want any awkward situations with him!" I defended myself, "Thanks to Happy, I know of this great big surprise that Gray is doing for my birthday tomorrow and I'm really nervous about what it is!"

"Well," said Levy, "At least you know it won't be a proposal on one knee," she snickered. Seeing my face, she was serious again, "Don't worry Lucy, it's probably just a cute little gift he got from the shops and a cute card. Don't worry about it so much."

"I'm still worrying," I said, my head plonking on the table top, "My head hurts…"

Levy laughed, "Well, I'm sure it's not that bad. Take the rest of the day off; I'll let Master know you were sick."

"Thanks, Levy," I smiled, getting up. As I walked down the stone edge of the little river, the usual man rowed by and warned me. I called after him I was fine and walked into my rented place.

After slipping under the covers, not bothering to change clothes and kicking off my boots, I quickly fell asleep.

When I woke, I saw my team around me like the time I woke in the infirmary. Sitting right in front of me was Happy who called to the others, "She's awake!"

I sat up and heard the slam of a chest. I blinked and saw Erza, Natsu and Gray standing in front of the chest where I kept my…

"Are you kidding me?" I yelled, leaping straight out of bed, "Do you HAVE to go snooping around in there?"

"Don't worry, Lucy," said Erza, "Although I honestly wonder how the heck you can wear underwear like that. Actually, I have no idea if it's even underwear?"

For some reason, I was blushing like crazy when I thought of Gray looking at my undergarments. Although I minded that Natsu and Erza were looking at them, I was absolutely embarrassed that Gray had looked at them.

"We just came to see if you were OK," said Erza, "Levy told us you were sick."

"Not really," I said. The nap had mostly taken care of my throbbing headache, "It was just a headache. Were you guys that worried?"

"Yeah," said Natsu, "Especially Gray. Ha, ha, ha!"

"Nani?" I said, turning red again.

Gray looked away, "I was not that worried."

"Come on!" said Natsu, " 'I wonder if Lucy's all right', 'can we go visit her?', 'hope she's going to be OK by tomorrow'…"

"T-Tomorrow's your birthday, you know," stammered Gray. I stared at him. I had never once heard Gray stammer, "It's not good to be sick on your birthday."

"Oh, crap!" said Natsu, "You just wanted to make sure she was OK so you could still spring your surprise on her."

"Would you just shut up?" said Gray to Natsu. Natsu still snickered.

"Thanks for worrying, everyone, but I'm OK," I insisted, "I should be fine by tomorrow on my birthday."

"Good," said Erza, "So until then, just get some rest and have some medicine. If you're really feeling terrible, Master said you could go see his old friend, Porlyusica. You know, the one who gave me my artificial eye?"

"Oh, OK," I said, lying back down, "Tell Master thanks, but I think I'll be fine."

"OK," said Erza, "Well, we just came to make sure you were OK. Come on, Gray, Natsu, Happy."

"Bye!" said Happy and Natsu but Gray hung back a bit and looked at Erza.

Erza rolled her eyes, "Fine. But don't bother her too much."

"See ya Luce!" cried Natsu, glomping onto me and hugging me. As he did so, his lips accidentally brushed by my cheek. I started blushing madly again.

As the others left, Gray took a seat by my bedside. I smiled, forgetting all the awkwardness I'd thought I'd feel, "Thanks, Gray."

"Nah, it's all right," said Gray, but there was something else in his expression, "I'm going to make sure you're all right before I leave."

I smiled and slowly drifted back to sleep as I knew I was safe with Gray.

…

I was sleeping in that way that all you see is pitch black and ten minutes later, it's already morning. Although I was, I somehow felt really cold despite the hot weather.

Suddenly, something warm touched my cheek and trailed down my neck. It seemed to warm up the rest of my body and I woke up with a gasp. I touched my cheek where the warm feeling had first started and looked to the bedside. Gray was gone. I got out of bed and went to the slightly ajar window, opening them all the way. I looked at the huge clock on the cathedral in the middle of town. A quarter past midnight. I had been asleep for a long time.

As I closed the window, a bit of frost had gathered on one glass square. I looked at it. In fancy writing in the frost, said '_Get Well Soon…_'

I looked down from the window and saw a shirtless figure, leaping onto the ground and walking away. I smiled at him, "Arigato, Gray."

I walked back to bed and watched as the writing on the window slowly evaporated away.


	14. Gifts

Chapter Fourteen: Gifts

**WARNING: This chapter will contain a pretty important spoiler if you're not at the Edolas arc and over yet!**

As I walked out my rented place the next morning, securing my whip onto my belt, I prepared myself for the huge surprise on my birthday. I was now officially eighteen, not quite believing it. As I reached the doors of Fairy Tail, I prepared myself for whatever they would throw at me.

I pushed open the doors as everyone leapt up and yelled, "Happy Birthday!"

"Ahhh!" I screamed from shock for a moment before I started laughing and smiling as Natsu and Happy leapt on me, before all the other more-outgoing members leapt onto me. I laughed and got back up as Natsu and Happy got off.

"Presents!" shouted Natsu, shoving a box under my nose. It was small and was black velvet. It was also ring sized.

I nearly choked on my own spit but I smiled happily to be polite to Natsu and try to look flattered.

"Aw… That's so sweet!" said Bisca, "I had no idea you guys were in a relationship!"

"What?" said half the guild.

"Nani?" said Natsu as everyone started clapping and cheering, assuming the same thing I had. I looked up and looked at everyone who had assumed Natsu was proposing. Everyone had known that Natsu was 'going to do something great', something so great, I 'won't believe it'.

I couldn't believe this, that's for sure. As I scanned the cheering crowd, I saw a navy haired person go through the crowd and disappear out the balcony.

_Gray? _I thought, about to go after him but I decided to be polite and see Natsu's gift first. I opened the box, grinning at Natsu and saw a flash of silver. Oh, dear God, it was a ring!

I looked down and nearly fainted in relief. It wasn't a ring, but a beautiful necklace. It had a thin, sparkling silver chain with a gem-studded N in fancy writing. Natsu grinned and held up a black version of it but instead of the N, it was an L.

"It's friendship necklaces!" said Natsu, "Now we can make sure we're always friends! Happy and I have some too, see?" He held up another necklace with H on it, "But Happy doesn't really wear necklaces so he doesn't wear his but I do."

"Aw…" I said, slipping the necklace around my neck, "That's so sweet! Thanks, Natsu! But, how could you afford this?" The diamonds glittered in the light pouring in from the windows.

Natsu grinned, "Yay! You like it!" He paused and continued, "I used the money we earned on that princess mission."

I smiled, "Aw, Natsu, you didn't have to spend the money on this! And of course I like it!" I wanted to go out to the balcony then and check on Gray but then the girls of Fairy Tail were onto me, chorusing 'Happy birthday!' and hustling me out the door.

"What the heck? Where are you guys taking me?" I asked, "I actually felt like taking a mission today…"

"Nonsense!" said Cana, one of the few hustling me along, "You can't take a mission on your birthday! It's the one day we're allowed to have the day off except if we're sick! Now come on!"

"I wouldn't be struggling if you tell me where we're going!" I said.

"You'll see," said Evergreen, also there.

Eventually I was at a familiar café. I blinked and realised I was at the place where I had agreed to meet with that photographer traveller guy, but never had because I went on a mission with Natsu and Happy instead.

"This is the place where I went to meet that guy…" I said, suddenly feeling pretty guilty.

"Don't worry, he didn't mind," said Cana, "Anyway, ta-dah!"

I looked around, "What's 'ta-dah'?"

Wendy laughed and pointed, "Over there, Lucy-san! He's only staying for a short time so be quick!"

I looked over and my heart gave one big thump for sitting in one of the café chairs, was my father! He looked different to how he normally did, now wearing normal clothes in I don't even know how long, since he always wore a suit and after his fortune was gone, he looked like a homeless beggar. Though, when I looked over at him, he smiled and waved us over.

I slowly approached him, as if he would suddenly stop looking so kind, that he would without warning suddenly transform back into that cold, ignoring father I always knew. But surprisingly, he didn't as I took my seat. I was actually beginning to wonder if they had bribed him to look so pleasant or if they threatened him or something. But I knew that wasn't true. Even if they had, Dad would never be able to make this face so believable. As I looked at his face, all I saw was actual love and happiness which I was used to seeing on my mother's face instead of his. I smiled happily.

"As soon as we heard he was in town, we had to get him to come," explained Lisanna, "So we thought we could make this your birthday present! Do you like it?"

"Yes!" I said. As far as I could remember, my birthdays had always meant a huge, over-the-top party with all these rich people bustling in and giving me presents like bracelets and cosmetics with a huge cake and maybe fireworks at night. And this little party made me happier than those ever could.

"Happy birthday, Lucy," said Dad, smiling. I grinned, "Arigato, Dad." I looked meaningfully at the others.

"We'll just leave you guys alone…" said Erza, easing everyone away, "Oh, and the guys of the guild picked up the tab so you don't have to pay for anything. Bye!" she said, turning around and hustling everyone away.

"So," I said, when they were gone, "How long are you in town for?"

"About 20 minutes actually," answered Father, looking around for any eavesdroppers, "I'm here on an errand for my guild, but I also wanted to wish my daughter a happy birthday."

"Oh," I said, "Good to see you're still doing your bit for the guild and… that you remembered."

"I've heard about your progress in the guild," said Father, "And that recent mission on saving a princess."

"Uh… sure," I said. I wanted to explain that we didn't actually have to save the princess from anything but I wanted to savour what 20 minutes we had, "We managed to complete it which is good."

"Layla would have been proud," murmured Father, "You've achieved so many Celestial Keys, Lucy. That's already an achievement I'm proud of. Nice belt, by the way."

"Thanks," I said, touching one of my keys before letting it swing back down.

After that, we talked about random things like the weather and what was happening in each other's lives and ordered cake and drinks even though I hadn't even had breakfast yet. It was only one time though; it should be OK. Then, before I knew it, Father had stood up and announced he had to leave. Did twenty minutes really past just then? Whenever I sat down with Dad before, it seemed like twenty years before he would let me go.

"Oh," I said, disappointed he was leaving so soon, "OK. Bye, Dad."

"I believe that's the first time you were sad to see me go," said Dad.

"Well, no offence, but your talks on money and business always put me to sleep," I said.

"None taken," said Father, "I understand now I should've treated you better." He handed me a rather large box, "I know this doesn't make up for everything but…" He chuckled, "It was your mother's favourite outfit." He smiled and left, "Bye, Lucy."

"Bye!" I called, taking a proper look at the package. It was wrapped in white, sparkly paper and had a pale blue bow in the corner. I walked to my rented place and went inside my bedroom, lying down on the bed. My birthday had been the best one yet. The sun reflected off my necklace and made glimmers on the wall. I decided to relax a bit before I went back to the guild. I got up and picked out a piece of paper and some writing equipment.

_Dear Mother, _I wrote,

_Today, Father visited Magnolia on an errand but he still made time to see me for my birthday. I'm really happy that he did! He also gave me a present that he said was your favourite outfit. I'm sure I'll love it. I also have a little dilemma with Gray and Juvia. If you were here, I'm sure you would have told me some great advice. But, I guess now I have to solve it myself. I really appreciated it when you appeared in my dream a few days ago and give me a warning of what was to come. Even when you're not here, you're still watching over me, Mother. Thank you._

_Lucy_

I folded it up, putting it in a tiny envelope and placing that in its usual box where I put all my letters. When I closed the box, however, a glimmer caught my eye. I looked over beside the box and saw a little piece of paper folded over once with my name on it. I went over and picked it up.

It was white background with elegant blue swirls of different tones. My name was in silver writing which glimmered. I opened up and the note and read what was inside, nearly having a heart attack. I looked over at the box my father had given me and smiled, _I guess I'll wear that. God knows I barely have any warm clothes._

I opened the box and looked at what was inside. The box was lined with black silk and taking up three quarters of the box was a folded snow white dress. I unfolded it and changed into it, taking off my skirt and top. It had a heart-neckline bodice with full sleeves that came in at the waist and slightly puffed out at the skirt which went down to my mid calves. The whole dress was made of silk except for the sleeves which were carefully woven lace. The bodice had little diamonds on it which shone in the sun. The skirt was plain and pure white. It was beautiful. I saw some shoes in the box as well, which were tucked under the folded dress. They were slip-on heels the lightest shade of blue, almost white and had a normal heel.

Taking up the other quarter of the box was a small, narrow box. I lifted the lid and there were the jewellery. There was a pair of dangling silver earrings in delicate little strings which moved with the slightest movement. I put them on and tied up my hair in its usual hairstyle with a silver band I already owned. There was also a necklace but I wanted to wear Natsu's for the day.

_Thanks, Mother, Father, _I thought for the outfit, securing my hair. I stood up after slipping on my shoes and took along the note, reading it over one more time before I left:

_Dear Lucy,_

_As you've noticed, I haven't given you your birthday present yet… Don't worry, I haven't forgotten; meet me by the large lake in the forest if you want to. I'll be there all day so maybe as soon as you read this note? I also have to talk to you about something…_

_P.S: Dress warmly. I think there's going to be a change in the weather._

_Gray._


	15. Hime

Chapter Fifteen: Hime

I took a back-alley way to the forest. Sure, it was longer, but I didn't want anyone staring at me when I went down the street looking like I was dressed for a masquerade ball. I was careful not to dirty the dress though, since this had been my Mother's outfit.

_I also have to talk to you about something… _the words repeated in my head. My first instinct had been to immediately assume he was talking about the Gemini issue. That he had somehow gotten word of it and wanted to talk about it. And normally, your first instinct was right which was why I panicked. So much for being able to choose when I wanted to talk…

Finally, I reached the forest where it was a bit cooler because of the extra shade. I had no idea why Gray had predicted a change in the weather; it seemed warm/hot now. Finally, I reached the lake. I looked around, _where is he?_

Suddenly Gray emerged from a few trees surrounding the lake. He was a bit wide-eyed as he looked at me. I realised he was still wearing his usual pants and immediately felt stupid, "Y-Yeah, it's a bit inappropriate…"

"No, it looks good on you," said Gray, shaking his head, still looking a bit surprised. I had no idea why. But then he smiled, "I never thought they made stuff like that here."

"No, it was my Mother's," I said, "Father gave it to me this morning."

"Yeah," said Gray, "I heard the girls plotting that." He laughed a bit, "Anyway, ready for your birthday surprise?"

_Not really… _

"Yeah, sure," I smiled, hoping it didn't look too fake. He didn't seem to notice as he placed his hands near the surface of the lake, "Ice Maho…"

Suddenly the whole lake froze as did the weather near us. Suddenly, I knew why he told me to dress warmly. He had frozen the lake for something and he needed the weather to drop as well so it wouldn't melt too quickly. I suddenly felt cold despite the full sleeved gown I was wearing.

"Wow," I said admiringly, as the surrounding trees covered with snow which suddenly started falling from above. Gray grinned and stood up, "I've been practising that for a few days now."

"It's gorgeous," I said, looking around at the now snow-covered area. It looked like something out of a postcard.

"That's not the surprise," said Gray, getting out a pair of skates, "This is."

I nearly looked scared for a moment. I had never skated before, except one time when I was little and I ended up falling flat on my face so I never skated again. I took the skates off him though and put them on, placing my heels next to a big oak tree. I slowly and carefully slid out on the lake, praying I won't land on my face again in front of Gray. He skated on next to me a short time later, except he didn't even need proper skates, he just made the bottom part out of ice and connected it to his shoes.

"I don't know how to," I ended up saying after a long and awkward silence with me just standing there, too afraid to skate out.

Gray smiled slightly and took my hands in his, "I do. It's like… dancing except it's easier to fall."

"That didn't make me feel any better," I said.

Gray laughed, "Just follow my lead."

He went off and I tried to remember what little I knew about skating. Which turned out to not be much at all.

"Ahhh!" I said in shock when I fell nearly immediately after we started.

But Gray managed to catch me behind my back and prevent me from falling.

"I won't let you fall," he said gently, helping me back up.

"Arigato," I said, blushing madly again. Honestly, I'd have to learn to cope with my facial expressions better…

As we pushed off again, Gray telling me advice from my side, I seemed to be getting better. Before I knew it, I actually began to really enjoy it. I closed my eyes, trusting that Gray would guide me wherever I went. I made little spins and leaps, landing solidly now instead of slipping over. I actually felt much at ease, forgetting all my problems. Until I heard Gray.

"You're doing great!" he called and I suddenly noticed he wasn't by my side anymore.

"EH?" I cried, opening my eyes and looking beside me. There was just air where Gray had been a few seconds ago. Or was it minutes? I couldn't remember anymore. I looked around and stopped skating to see Gray sitting on the snow covering the edge of the lake, "Yo."

"NANI?" I yelled in shock with big eyeballs I imagined, "So all this time, I thought I was going to be fine because you're guiding me and it turns out you weren't? What if I crashed into a tree or went off the lake or something?"

"But you didn't…" said Gray, scratching his head in confusion, "You were actually doing really well for a rookie. So I thought, 'hey, why not let her do her own thing?' and I let you go and you didn't do anything so I thought it was fine."

"Wait…" I said, thinking, "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SITTING THERE?"

"Hmm… like an hour or something…"

"I'VE BEEN SKATING FOR AN HOUR?" I yelled, "So that means you saw the leaps and the spins and…"

"Yeah," said Gray like it was no big deal, "Although it did look a bit awkward with you doing it in a dress like that, you did it really well."

_HOW EMBARRASSING! _I thought miserably.

"Yeah… It's also getting pretty dark and that ice is melting so you better get off…" said Gray.

"OK," I said, skating over and hopping off. I took off the skates and handed them back, slipping on my heels again.

"Now," said Gray, "About that thing I wanted to talk to you about…"

_Oh, God, _I thought, slowly clicking my head around, "Yeah…?"

He sat down under a large tree sprinkled with snow but it had a clean space underneath with no snow. He patted the space next to him for me. I sat down, figuring it'd be better to get it over and done with.

"Well…" began Gray, "I had no idea that…"

I really couldn't take it anymore. I blurted out, "OK, whatever you heard about who loves who is true!" I really couldn't decide if I was relieved or not that Gray was bringing up the Gemini issue.

"Really?" said Gray, looking a bit sad, "I had no idea that you are Natsu were—"

"Wait, what?" I said, widening my eyes.

"You and Natsu," said Gray, "I had no idea that you two were already that serious."

"What?" I cried, "Natsu and I aren't… Oh…" I thought of the ring-sized box, "No, no, Natsu wasn't proposing to me!"

"I never thought he was!" said Gray, "Or, maybe I did, but as soon as Mira told me it was a necklace I went over to Natsu to see if it was true and it was."

"Good," I said, "So what's the big deal?"

"It was still something that hinted you guys were serious," said Gray.

"What?"

"You don't know these necklaces, do you?" asked Gray.

"Natsu said that these were friendship necklaces," I said, touching the pendant.

Gray shook his head, muttering, "Naturally Natsu. Anyway, they're the newest necklaces for boyfriend and girlfriends."

!

"NANI?" I yelled, my head expanding.

Gray nodded, "I walked past the shop the night you were sick when I left. They had a big promotional poster and God, they were expensive. The thing was, you were supposed to wear the initials of your girlfriend or boyfriend and that meant you were serious about each other. But if the necklace pendant started to dull overtime, it means the relationship isn't working anymore because it's magic. And Natsu had both your initials, L and H."

"H was supposed to stand for Happy," I said.

"… And the pendants were both glittering brighter than the sun," said Gray, "So I thought that you and Natsu had a really good relationship and I assumed you two were dating."

"We're not," I said, "We're just good friends."

"That's what Bisca and Alzack said too and look what happened," said Gray.

I suddenly had a light-bulb moment. I could use this to my advantage to find the answer I had wanted to know from the beginning.

"Why would you care if Natsu and I were dating?" I asked discreetly.

Instead of giving me a straight out answer which I could interpret, Gray said instead, "I don't know…"

I nearly pouted. I really wanted to know the answer. If he said he didn't care, I wouldn't have anything to worry about except maybe my broken heart and if he said he liked me, then I would have colossal problems involving Juvia.

"You've been avoiding me," he said suddenly.

"What?" was my first reaction.

"You have," said Gray, "That was another reason why I thought you and Natsu were going out."

"I haven't been…" I said, but even as I said it, I knew I sounded pathetic.

"Why?" said Gray, looking down.

"It's nothing," I said, sounding more convincing this time, "I didn't even realise I was doing it. I'm sorry."

Gray looked a bit suspicious but shrugged it off, getting up, "So what do you want to do now?"

"How about just going back to the guild?" I said, "I just want to relax on my day off."

"OK," said Gray. He helped me up and we went through the back-alley way and through a bit of street back to the guild. Suddenly, Natsu appeared around the corner, looking up, "Eh? Lucy and Gray too?"

"Natsu!" I yelled, immediately onto him, "You never told me these necklaces were for people in a relationship!"

"Huh? Was it?" said Natsu, thinking, "I just went in and they looked good so I bought them. Why? You want a different necklace? I still have some leftover money to buy some new ones."

"Can't you get a refund or swap it or something?" I said.

"No," said Natsu, "The guy said once you buy it, no refunds or swapping."

"Well…" I said, not wanting him to waste his money, "No, it's OK. I'll keep it. Just as long as we aren't in a relationship and people know we aren't, it should be OK."

"OK!" said Natsu, grinning.

Happy came up next to me and mouthed in my ear, _they both llllike you!_

_Would you cut it out! _I mouthed.

Suddenly, a small shape suddenly darted towards us from the street, "I knew it was you!"

"What?" said Gray, "Hey, you're…"

"YOU!" I yelled, looking at him, my eyes widening. It was the director from the plays that Erza, Natsu, Gray, Happy and I had been in because his usual stars had quit. I had never wanted to see him again since the last play had resulted in me onstage with no clothes on!

"YOU!" I shouted, about to murder him.

"You're perfect!" yelled the director in delight.

"Nani?" I said.

"You're perfect for the parts in the play I'm doing!" said the director delightedly, "You're even wearing the right clothes!"

"Play?" I cried, "Oh, no, no, no, no, I will sooner die than do another play in which I will end up being publicly humiliated!"

"No, no, I insist you won't!" said the director, "You see the new play I'm doing includes two young princes," he looked at Natsu and Gray, "competing over one beautiful young princess." He looked at me, "The young princess doesn't love either of them but then seeing their pain and sorrow kills herself."

"WHAT KIND OF STORYLINE IS THAT?" I yelled.

"My best one yet," said the director, "Full of drama and love."

"Look, if you want people who can relate to that situation, just talk to Levy, Jet and Droy," said Natsu.

"No, no, you people are perfect!" insisted the director, "Can you please help me in my play?"

"Look, I'm sorry but—" I started.

"Yeah, sure," interrupted Gray.

"Nani?" both Natsu and I looked at him and dragged him off.

"Are you kidding me?" I whispered once we were out of earshot, "This man is insane and you know it."

"We don't even like acting in plays," added Natsu, "The only good thing about last time was I got to be a dragon but in this play, I'm just some guy who wants a girl!"

"Look," said Gray, "You know this guy is stubborn; the sooner we do it, the sooner he'll be off our backs! Besides," he grinned at Natsu, "Since we're competing for Lucy, maybe we'll have a fighting scene."

"I'm in," said Natsu.

"Are you kidding me?" I yelled at Natsu, "That's all you're interested in?"

"Yeah," said Natsu, "And this time, Erza won't be here to break it up!"

"Yeah!" they both cheered while I sulked in the corner.

"Two against one, Lucy," said Gray, grinning.

I groaned and followed them back to the man, "We'll do it."

"Brilliant!" cried the director, "Let's get to it then! Hurry up! No dawdling!"

_This is bound to end in disaster, _I sulked as I followed along, Happy floating beside me.


	16. Adrenaline

Chapter Sixteen: Adrenaline

As we arrived at the theatre place, the director gave us our scripts for the scenes we were in. I skimmed my sheet, realising my character had a lot to say. Then I read the actions I was supposed to do in bold writing. Then I noticed something.

"CHOTTO MATTE!" I yelled at the director right before he left the room, "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"

I stabbed my finger on two parts of my script which included:

_Kiss Prince No. 1 _and _Kiss Prince No. 2._

"Well, what sort of romance would it be without a kiss?" said the director.

"Can't we shake hands or something?" I said, "Or a hug or…"

"Nope," said the director, "This drama calls for a kiss so that's what it'll get." He marched out, closing the case.

I sighed, _so my character's a two-timer then… some princess…_

"Take one!" shouted the director, "Action!"

As I said my long monologue to Natsu who looked like he was itching to get to the fighting scene, I thought about how many lines left I had to say before I was supposed to kiss him. I wonder if he knew it…?

"And… cut!" shouted the director. I immediately snapped out of the princess mode and yelled at the director, "Why the heck does my character have so many lines when Natsu has 5 to none?"

"Because the princess is the main character. Anyway, now we'll jump to the kiss scene! And… action!"

"KISS?" cried Natsu. So he didn't know…

"Yes!" said the director, "You have to look lovingly in her eyes and say your lines before you catch her off guard and kiss her! Very simple."

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed Natsu before stopping abruptly, "Sorry, Gramps but we aren't going to do that."

"Thank you!" I said.

"OK," said the director, "I suppose we'll have to cut out the fighting scene as well… Action!"

One of Natsu's veins popped out on his head and he huffed and turned around, "Fine."

Skipping the lines, he took my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine.

"Yes, that's it!" cried the director happily, not seeming to mind the skipped lines, just the actions, "Just hold that pose for a few seconds!"

I never even paid attention to the director, focussing more on the kiss. Natsu had presumably never kissed a girl and I had never kissed a guy before so we were both amateurs at it. I actually had no idea what I was supposed to do but it was actually quite a nice kiss for my first one.

"And… cut!" cried the director once he was satisfied. We separated ourselves. I noticed Natsu was actually blushing a bit.

_Is he…? _I looked at him. The faint pink was still there and he was looking away. Happy was sitting next to the director and said aloud, "You both llllike each other!"

"Do not!" we both said at the same time. As we walked off the stage to prepare for the next scene, I smiled at Natsu, "You weren't that bad."

Natsu grinned, "That's good! I've never kissed anyone before. Every time I tried to show affection to Igneel, he just pushed me away." He laughed a little bit, but I noticed he was looking slightly lonely that Igneel wasn't with him anymore.

"OK," I said, "I have to go back out for my kiss with Gray."

Gray was already on the stage in his deep blue prince outfit. I went up opposite him and waited for the director's cue.

"And… go for it!" called the director.

Gray placed his hands on the sides of my face and recited his lines flawlessly, looking lovingly in my eyes. It was hard to believe he was only acting.

Then, before I knew it, he leaned down slightly and kissed me squarely on the lips. I had always assumed that Gray had never kissed a girl before but he was a great kisser. If Natsu's kiss had been an ember, then Gray's would have been a flamethrower. I started to kiss back, my hands wrapping around his neck and his went around my waist.

"Um, you two!" called the director, "You can stop now! It's been about two minutes!"

Suddenly, I realised we were only in a rehearsal and quickly pulled myself away from Gray, almost forcing myself. My adrenaline was really going and I wanted to kiss Gray again for some reason.

_What is this? _I thought, _does this mean I really love Gray?_

"That was the extent of the passion I wanted but a bit too long of a kiss," said the director.

I heard some commotion outside all of a sudden and the director clapped his hands, "All right! The audience is arriving! Everyone into places for the opening scene!"

_*After the play because I'm too lazy and I actually know nothing about plays…*_

I finally escaped the blinding spotlight and pressure of the stage as the audience burst into applause. I fled to our dressing room and saw Natsu and Gray already changed.

"It's over!" said Natsu, "That fighting scene was fun!"

"Yeah," I said, "especially when you did your Dragon's Roar and the whole side of the stage burst into flames and Gray had to freeze it. Then the room was too cold and you had to make a fire to keep everyone warm?"

Natsu laughed, "It was funny! The audience enjoyed it!"

"And nearly died," I said.

"Anyway, I'll be waiting outside for you guys!" said Natsu, "See you!" He zoomed out.

I laughed at his eagerness. Then I realised I was alone with Gray.

"So who's a better kisser? Me or Natsu?" asked Gray jokingly.

"Like I care," I said, laughing. Since the second kiss in the actual play, my adrenaline was running high and I actually loved Gray's kiss more than Natsu's but I didn't want to bring up an awkward situation.

By the time we arrived back to the guild, it was already getting dark. My birthday was officially over for the day and it was the best. I saw my father, I got my mother's favourite outfit, I went ice-skating and found out I actually loved it, I didn't get stark naked in the play and I even got a kiss from the guy I loved.

When we got back, I went around to each of the groups or individuals to say thank you for such a good birthday, except Gajeel who just scowled at me. For some reason, I couldn't find Juvia anywhere. Even Mira didn't know where she went.

"She left earlier this afternoon," said Mira, "Maybe she's at Fairy Hills now."

"I'll thank her tomorrow then," I said, "I think I'll go to my apartment now."

As I walked past Erza and Natsu and Happy, I gave them big hugs and thanked them. They grinned and said it was nothing. Then I walked to Gray.

"Save it, it was nothing," said Gray when I approached him. He paused for a minute and then said, "Can I walk you home?"

"Yeah, sure…" I said, a bit surprised.

We walked out of the guild and towards my apartment.

"Seriously though, you look awesome in that dress," said Gray, "That's why I sort of froze when I saw you coming into the forest. You really reminded me of a princess."

I swallowed hard and talked to cover it up, "Well, it was my mother's and she was way prettier than I am."

"That's hard to believe," said Gray.

I pretty much couldn't think of anything to say after that. We walked in a silence but it wasn't an awkward silence, it was more like us just enjoying each other's company, not wanting words to wreck it. Before I knew it, we were in front of the door leading to my apartment.

"Lucy," said Gray.

I turned around, "Yeah?"

I flinched at how close he was. I was literally up against the wall and Gray was about two centimetres away from me. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek lightly, "Sleep well." He turned around and walked away.

Once he was out of sight and earshot, I started hyperventilating. My cheek felt warm, similar to that time when I was sick and something had touched me on the cheek while I was sleeping. Did he kiss me that time, too?

I shook my head, still clutching my face. I waited for my heartbeat to slow and my adrenaline rush to go down before I went inside.


	17. Comrades

Chapter Seventeen: Comrades

The next morning, I woke early in the morning. The birthday hype was over and I had to wait another year. I stretched and yawned, checking the weather outside. It looked foggy and cool. I wore a miniskirt nevertheless and a one-shoulder light blue top. I took along a jacket just in case and did the usual morning routine before walking to the guild.

When I entered the guild, everyone was still in their usual clothes despite the cold. I went and sat down next to Cana who was already drinking a barrel full of alcohol, "Aren't you cold?" I eyed her bikini top and pants.

"Why do you ask?" she said, stopping drinking for a minute.

"Just curious," I said, looking over to where Juvia was. Juvia noticed me looking and looked up, but quickly cast her eyes downward again. I blinked, confused.

"What's up with you and Juvia now, anyway?" said Cana, setting down her now empty barrel next to a couple other empty ones. Just how much can she drink and not get drunk?

"I have no idea," I lied. I was pretty sure Juvia wouldn't want me spreading our little problems around the guild. Although I was confused myself. Why had she looked so sad? The usual Juvia would have flashed me a death glare or, if it was a good day, maybe a smile. But she had never looked sad before. I thought we were over the whole Gray issue…?

"I mean, why doesn't Juvia flash you death glares anymore? Or even a smile?" said Cana.

"You noticed the death glares?" I said.

"Everyone notices," said Cana, "Mira! More booze!" Then back to me, "Did you guys have a fight or something? But I guess if you did, she'd be flashing you even more death glares…"

"I don't know myself…" I said. Suddenly, an iron kunai type thing thunked into the table in front of me. I jumped and saw a note attached to the kunai. I looked around. No one seemed to notice the kunai nearly killing me. I took off the note and read the brief message.

_L,_

_Upstairs, now._

_G_

"It's probably Gajeel," said Cana, pulling out the iron weapon, "Maybe you should bring this upstairs."

"He's not going to kill me," I said, rolling my eyes, "Besides, even if I did use this, he'd probably eat it first." I left the note and kunai on the table and walked up the stairs without attracting anyone's attention. I saw a small room with the door left ajar. I pushed it open silently and slipped inside. Gajeel was already sitting there, glaring like he usually does.

I sat down, "OK, what?"

"You really have no idea why Juvia's so upset, do you?" said Gajeel emotionlessly.

"Should I?" I said.

"You could have noticed the only blue-haired person in the audience."

"What?" I said, putting the pieces together, "She was at the play?"

"So was I, for that matter."

"Mmph…" I laughed, snickering, covering it up with a cough. Then, seeing it wasn't fooling anyone, I burst out laughing, "Sorry. I just can't imagine you at a play including princesses and princes. Ha, ha, ha!" I hit the floor, laughing.

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "OK, shut up. I fell asleep mid-through. Anyway, you realise you had a kiss scene with Gray, right?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat, "Oh… SHIT!" I yelled, immediately panicking, "She knew it was because we had to because it was in the script, right?"

"She knew that. It was just that you seemed to be getting into the kiss with Gray more than with Salamander. Now she expects you two do love each other."

"Oh, great," I said, my head hitting my knees.

"So you guys need to explain to her. At first she was mad, I swear she laughed when your character died in the play, but then she was really sad and started moping the whole way home. Then she left early to Fairy Hills when we got back."

"Oh, she was upset the whole time," I groaned.

"You have to cheer her up," said Gajeel, still glaring, "I hate seeing her like that."

"Aw…." I said.

"Geez," said Gajeel, "I feel sorry for her, all right? Her whole life, she's been depressed, continually being avoided by everyone. When she joined this guild, she was happy and I was happy for her and now she's depressed again. Is it so surprising I feel sorry for her when we were comrades for so long?"

"I never said it was surprising, I just thought it was sweet," I said.

"Yeah, well, I don't love her," said Gajeel honestly, "I just want you to cheer her up. You are her first real friend since that Tower of Heaven thing."

"OK," I said, "Thanks, Gajeel."

"Whatever," he said, looking away.

"Oh," I said, pausing at the door and turning around, "You better get Levy now before Jet and Droy take her away."

Gajeel flinched and his head expanded at me, "SHUT UP, CHEERLEADER GIRL!" He turned a light pink though when I looked closer and laughed. Then I walked out and made way to Juvia. Suddenly, I noticed the blank spot next to Lisanna. Juvia must have left again.

I went to Lisanna instead who looked up and said politely, "Lucy san!"

"Hey, Lisanna," I said, "Hey, do you know where Juvia went?"

"Oh, she took a mission," said Lisanna, "She went on a mission with the Raijinshuu team."

"Oh," I said, looking around. Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow were missing. I never thought that Juvia was actually that close to them, but I guess I was wrong, "For how long?"

"A couple of days," said Lisanna, "They're saving a town or something like that so they won't be back for a couple of days. Or maybe even longer. It's an S-ranked mission, after all…"

"OK," I said, frustrated I had to wait a couple of days to talk with her. I wonder if she was purposefully avoiding me. Then I had an idea. I turned away, "I have something to do. See you, Lisanna!"

"Bye!" waved Lisanna.

Fairy Hills was a beautiful place where most of the women of Fairy Tail stayed. It had rooms for rent and a pool and beach. Like a hotel resort except with wooden weapons of torture inside it and weird naked statues. I walked through the lobby and up to Erza's room. She was in there with the door unlocked. Well, why bother lock it? Anyone would be good as dead if they tried to rob Erza's stuff. She was in there, sharpening her swords and polishing her armour.

"Hey, Lucy!" said Erza, sliding the armour helmet back in place on the stand, "What are you doing here?"

"I actually have a message for Juvia," I said.

"Oh, OK, I'll pass it on," said Erza.

"It's a note," I said, "Juvia's on a mission so when she comes back, I want her to find this message. Is there any way I can put this note in her room so she can see it as soon as she gets back?"

"Hmm…" said Erza, thinking, "There are some spare keys of everyone's room keys in the lobby. I'm not supposed to touch them so don't tell anyone, OK?"

"Yeah, sure," I said.

We went into the lobby and Erza went behind the desk, finding a blank part of wood and punched it. I hissed, "What are you doing, Erza? Are you crazy?"

Suddenly, a magic seal appeared along with some ancient symbols. Erza tapped a few symbols and suddenly a small, vault-like door appeared. Erza slid it open and fetched out a tiny key with a J engraved on it, putting it in my hand, "There you go." She closed the door and reactivated the magic seal. The door slowly disappeared again.

"Wow," I said, "Erza, that's amazing! Where did you learn to do that?"

"The owner taught some of us how to use it once we learn the ancient symbols. Levy picked it up straight away because she already knew the symbols."

"Oh," I said, walking towards Juvia's room, "Thanks, Erza!"

"Yeah, it's all right," said Erza, suddenly dragging me back by my collar, "But you tell anyone I just did that and I swear I will…" she didn't have to finish her threat for me to understand the danger.

"I-I won't," I stammered.

"Good," said Erza, letting me go, acting all friendly again, "Bye! Have a nice day!"

_C-Creepy… _I thought as I turned the key in the lock of Juvia's room. It clicked open and I was able to push the door open. I went in and found a Gray doll.

"Aw…" I said aloud, putting the doll back down with a squeak. Then I opened my note and placed it on her bed, weighing it down with the doll of Gray in case a breeze came in and blew it away.

I read over the note again to make sure it made sense and when it did, I walked out:

_Juvia,_

_I'm really sorry about the 'incident'. I want to talk to you about it though so we can continue to be friends._

_If you want, you can meet me at the waterfall cave when you return from your mission. I'll be there from about 6:30 to 8pm. Please meet me, Juvia, we really have to talk._

_Lucy._


	18. Article

Chapter Eighteen: Article

The day after I dropped off the note, it seemed to be a normal day. As I walked towards the guild, I passed the newsagency-type shop where I saw Wendy and Charle.

"Hey," I said, walking towards them, waving.

"Lucy-san!" said Wendy, waving and going back to what she was doing. She took out her wallet, dropping in upside down and shaking it a few times. A fly flew out and Wendy put it away, "Charle, do you have any money?"

"Does it look like I have any money?" said Charle, gesturing to her dress, "This dress doesn't even have any pockets."

"Wait," I fished around and took out a couple of notes, giving them to the man. He looked closely at me and said, "Hey… You're that girl from the article!"

"What?" I said, looking at what Wendy was buying. It was a copy of _Sorcerer's Magazine. _I opened it and flicked through the articles and posters of Mira posing in revealing outfits. I can just imagine the look on Elfman's face. Suddenly, I passed an eye-catching page. I flicked back and my eyes bugged out, "EH?" I shouted.

For there were blown up pictures of me and Gray and me and Natsu making out with a colourful heading stating, _Former Heartfilia Heir Finds New Love(s)?_

"This is from a PLAY!" I shouted, about to rip the magazine in two but then remembering that Wendy wanted it so I resisted, "How can they do this?"

"Gossip magazines make news out of everything," said Charle, floating over to me, "Hmm… who knew you had two men wrapped around your little finger?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" I said.

"Well, I'm just saying," said Charle, blunt as ever, "You seem a bit hysterical to have two men coming for you."

"Charle," said Wendy firmly, before looking sympathetically at me, "Lucy, you probably don't want to go back to the guild since… well…"

"Yeah," I said, thinking of what the guild members would think when they see those photos.

"Maybe you want to go someplace and talk a bit then?" said Wendy, "Maybe it'll make you feel better?"

"Sure, thanks," I said.

"Charle, let's go," said Wendy, picking up the magazine and walking out.

Soon we were at the same café where I'd met with my Dad.

"So," said Wendy, looking at the article, "What's with these pictures of you, Gray and Natsu?"

"Cue screaming," said Charle.

"THAT SCENE WAS IN A FREAKING PLAY!" I screamed. Luckily the café was pretty much empty and no one was around to witness, "THOSE FREAKING (beep) AT THE GOSSIP MAGAZINES! WHY, WENDY, WHY?"

"Well, Lucy-san," said Wendy, seeming slightly surprised at my outburst. She played around with a crack in the table, listening for more screaming but I was done. When she saw I was finished, she looked up and started speaking.

"Well, actually, I wouldn't know why but it is pretty… reasonable to assume that two people love each other if they're seen kissing."

"In a play," I pointed out.

"But the director said 'Yes, these people are couples'."

"WHAT?" I said, snatching the magazine, "Sorry," I apologised quickly to Wendy.

I skimmed the article looking for whatever was there and saw it.

_After confronting the director of the largely successful play, we had the following interview:_

_**Sorcerer's Magazine: **__So, considering the steamy kisses between three of the main stars, we have to ask… Are these people actually couples?_

_**Director: **__Why, yes, yes, of course._

"WHAT?" I yelled, looking at the line and wishing I had made more of a hard time for the stupid old director, "I'm not a couple with Gray or Natsu! These people BELIEVED this? God, now I'm going to seem like a slut…"

"It should be no big deal then," said Charle.

"Charle!" said Wendy, clearly close to snapping, "Please! Can't you see Lucy-san's in pain, here?"

"I'm just saying," said Charle, "That everyone in the guild would rather believe Lucy's words instead of the director's. If Lucy tells them they are not dating, the guild will believe her."

"I think she's right," said Wendy.

"Yeah…" I nodded, "99.9% of the guild anyway…" _What if Juvia saw this? She'd never listen to me then…_

Wendy stood up, then and said, "Gomenasai, Lucy-san but I have to get going to the guild. I have to help some guild members hurt from a mission."

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," I said.

"I hope you feel a bit better to get your feelings out," said Wendy before rushing off, Charle following behind.

I waved and thought, _yeah, it did, Wendy. Arigato. But what am I supposed to do about Juvia… Maybe she won't see it… But what if she does? Then again, maybe she won't but… ARGH!_

Just as I was having a complete meltdown, someone suddenly sat in the chair opposite me, where Wendy was sitting just before. I looked up and saw Gray, shirtless as always with only shorts on, "Hey."

"Hi," I said, dwelling some more on Juvia before realising I was being pretty rude, "Sorry. Hey, did you see this article?" I held it up for Gray to see. Instead of freaking out like I did, though, he just shrugged, "Yeah, it's no big deal."

"How can you say that? This is ridiculous!" I cried.

"It happens all the time," said Gray, "Back when everyone didn't know Elfman and Mira were siblings, they were a couple too!"

"That's horrible," I said, "And embarrassing…"

"They were cool about it," said Gray, "Levy, Droy and Jet were all featured on an article together that's just like ours but they didn't mind. I was coupled with Erza, Cana, Mira, Evergreen, you name it. So has Natsu actually."

"Since when do you and Evergreen even talk?" I said, not remembering one instant.

"It was before you joined the guild," said Gray, "We were talking about a mission and I reached over to get my drink and so did she and our hands touched and the press took a picture."

"Over touching hands?" I said.

"When they get a good story, they make it happen," shrugged Gray, "Although none of those times I was ever snapped kissing somebody."

"Exactly!" I said, "This is why I'm freaking out; that we are caught on camera, making out!"

"You need to relax!" said Gray, reaching over just then and touching my hand to comfort me, "What are you doing tomorrow? Maybe we can do something that'll take your mind off it."

"Well, I am meeting Juvia," I said.

"When?"

"Uh… 6:30pm at the earliest."

"So we can do something for the afternoon," said Gray, "Do you want to?"

"Um, yeah, OK," I said, feeling excited for tomorrow.

"Great," said Gray, "I'll come by your place tomorrow. What time works for you?"

"Uh, well, I usually get up at around 8…? But shouldn't we take a couple missions now or something? It is our job, you know…"

"We're actually having a slow week," said Gray, "Not many missions are coming in right now so everyone's already taken all of them before new ones can get in. We pretty much don't have any missions to take."

"Oh," I said, "Well, in that case, I'm sleeping in until 9, OK?"

"Yeah, whatever works for you," said Gray, "I'll see you at 9, tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

"OK," said Gray, getting up and coming over to kiss me lightly on the cheek again before walking away, "See you, Lucy."

I sat there for a few minutes, surprised he had kissed me again. Then I finally got my act together and got up, going in the direction of the guild.


	19. Hiking

Chapter Nineteen: Hiking

The sun shone in my eyes again, waking me up. I blinked and swore under my breath, "I need to put that window somewhere else otherwise I'll go freaking blind…" I got up and stretched, rubbing the tired feeling from my eyes. I went over to the window and looked out. It was a bright day, a few wisps of cloud in the sky but very sunny and clear. I looked out over the town and saw the clock on the cathedral.

My breath caught in my throat. 5 minutes to nine! I dashed from the window, shutting it and drawing the curtains as I got out some random clothes and changed out of my pyjamas. I was just taking off my shirt when I heard footsteps and the door suddenly opened, "Hey, Lucy, I'm a bit early but—"

"GET OUT!" I shouted, grabbing my bed blanket and covering up while my other hand grabbed the first thing it could find which was a huge book on Magnolia town which I'd used when I'd first came here as a guide and threw it at him.

"I'm so, so sorry," I said once I had gone out and saw Gray, "My first reaction is to throw stuff at people who come in when I'm changing."

"Nah, it's all right," said Gray, "Luckily my first reaction when stuff is thrown at me is to use Ice Make Shield."

"Still, I'm sorry," I said, "I know it's the time we agreed to meet. I kind of overslept."

"It's all right," said Gray, "Let's go."

"Where are we going to do?" I asked, following after him and walking next to him.

"Take a hike," said Gray.

"Don't be so rude," I said, hitting him lightly.

"I'm serious, we're taking a hike," said Gray, "There's this mountain that has the best view at the top, I swear. I've been up there a few times."

_Why does everyone suddenly have their little undiscovered places? _I thought, laughing a bit under my breath.

"What?" said Gray.

"Nothing," I sniggered.

Soon, we were in the East Forest and hiking up some big mountain.

"How can you walk up this?" I said, practically dragging myself along as Gray easily found footholds on the thin ledge we were walking up and didn't even have to use his hands to support himself against the wall. He looked back and laughed slightly, "Well, I've been here a few times."

"I'm tired," I groaned, since we had walked from town, through half the forest and up a mountain. It was starting to remind me of Erza's walking marathon when we went to Crescent Lunar.

Gray smiled and walked down a few steps to me and leaned down, his back to me, "Get on, then."

"It's OK," I said, trying to go on my own. Although it was very clear I was struggling a heap.

"Sometimes I wish you weren't so stubborn," said Gray, easily passing me, even on the thin ledge. He didn't seem to have a thought of falling. Gray ducked down and swept my legs out from underneath me and supported my back, holding me bridal-style.

"Gray, are you insane?" I protested. Actually, I quite liked the fact I was pressed up against his chest to the point I could faintly hear his heartbeat but I didn't want to trouble Gray and make him tired with my extra weight on him, "Let me go! I can walk by myself!"

He rolled his eyes, already knowing my reasons, "It would only 'trouble' me more if I saw you struggling."

I didn't have anything to say to that. I listened to the steady beat of his heart for any sign he was getting tired. It thumped steady and strong, not like my own spluttering heart. He had amazing stamina. Maybe it was because he always did that 24 hour run every year for Fairy Tail.

I didn't even realise how much distance we'd covered until we were on a flat plateau at the top of the mountain.

He let me go then and put his arm around my shoulders, "Isn't it beautiful?"

I looked over the view. Part of the East Forest was beneath us; the tops of the trees were a few ledges under us. Magnolia was beyond that. A clear river flowed along the rocks to my side. I realised this was the river which ran down and became a waterfall where Juvia's crying place was. The place was gorgeous, just as much as Juvia's place was.

"It is," I said, "This was a great day, Gray."

"Did you think this was it?" said Gray, letting me go and looking at me, "This view was just a part of it. It is lunchtime. That hike took up a couple of hours." He suddenly got out a picnic basket from out of nowhere.

"Where did you get that from?" I said. He was shirtless for God's sake. Where could he hide a picnic basket?

"Magic," said Gray, "Not really. Natsu and Happy nabbed a mission to go past this forest so I got Happy to bring this up this morning. It's still good."

"Oh," I said, making a mental note to thank Happy and Natsu later.

Gray got out a blanket and laid out the food. I sat down and looked at the food. Two bento boxes and some water bottles. I opened the bento box and saw the food neatly arranged in a colourful Fairy Tail symbol. The whole meal screamed of Mira-chan. It even had a cute little note attached to the lid, "Have fun with Gray and enjoy the bento lunch! – Mira."

"Mira made this?" I said, eating a bit. It was delicious.

"Yeah, I can't cook," said Gray, sitting down next to me, "I tried and I failed so I just asked Mira to do it for me. Now I owe her, so…"

I started stuffing my face with the bento and it was all gone too soon. I stared at my empty box, wishing maybe it would suddenly fill up again with Mira's delicious cooking. Gray noticed my staring and offered his bento, "Want some of mine?"

"No, it's all right," I said immediately.

"You know you always say no when you really want to say yes?"

"It's being polite," I said but even I could tell what a terrible liar I was.

Gray rolled his eyes and held out some food. I ate it and smiled. His bento was just as good as mine. Gray grinned and ate some, feeding me as well.

"Are you sure you won't be hungry?" I asked, eating a bit.

"Of course not," shrugged Gray, "I'll just eat when we get back to the guild."

Soon, that bento box was empty as well. I was pretty much full now as I drank some water and put the boxes and empty bottles back in the basket.

"So, you want to go back now?" asked Gray once he shut the basket lid.

I somehow didn't feel like going back to the guild for once. I loved it but I actually wanted to spend some more time in this beautiful place.

"Um, I'd actually like to stay here for a while," I said, sitting down, my face buried in my knees. I wrapped my arms around my knees and relaxed in the warm sunshine. There was no wind and the running water and sunshine made a very calm atmosphere.

Gray sat down next to me, looking at the view. After a while, I opened my eyes and looked sideways at Gray. He was looking at me too, not discreetly, like me but literally staring so I could see three-quarters of his face. His face was emotionless. Once he was caught staring, he smiled in a different way I had never seen before and scooted a bit closer to me, until our shoulders were nearly touching. I lifted my face up and turned to face him, "What's with that look?"

"Nothing," said Gray, still smiling and looking out over the view again, "Nice view."

"Yeah," I said, turning my head slightly.

The second I was caught off guard, Gray moved. I turned around, "Gray—?"

When I turned around, Gray suddenly took my face in his hands and kissed me on the lips. His kiss was soft and gentle, yet fierce and hungry. My adrenaline levels shot up and my arms went around his neck again and pulled him closer.

This kiss was so much better. There was no cameras, no stupid director shouting at us or any distractions. Nevertheless, it ended all too soon and Gray pulled away, giving me a gentle kiss on my forehead before getting up, "We should really get back now. You've been like that for an hour."

"Really?" I said. It only felt like ten minutes but I'd been relaxing in the sun for an hour. Wow. But what was even more amazing was Gray's kiss. He really was a really great kisser.

The trip back to Magnolia Town took a couple of hours. I was lagging behind again but Gray carried me back most of the way since I got tired too quickly. I also made a mental note to improve my stamina.

"Hey, we're back," I said, coming into the guild and sitting at the bar with Mira, "The bento lunches were delicious, thanks."

"It's OK," said Mira, smiling, "I thought it was sweet of Gray. Now you've forgotten all about 'that article'."

"Thanks for reminding me," I groaned, hitting my head on the table and lifting it back up, "Actually, I have to talk to Juvia tonight so… Wait, what time is it?" I looked out but of course I couldn't see the cathedral.

"It's about 5:30pm," said Mira, "You and Gray sure spent most of the day together."

"Honestly, it took like three hours to hike to that spot," I said, "That's just sad. I need to improve my stamina, Mira-chan…"

"Well, I believed the best way I improved it was to train every day, take plenty of missions and eat healthily." She nodded, "Yep, that's the way."

"Well, anyway," I said, getting up, "I have to get home and change into something less dirty," I gestured at my dirt stained clothes from the hike, "And probably take a shower too."

Mira laughed, "Off you go then."

I walked to the entrance of the guild and saw Gray was waiting outside for me, apparently.

"I knew you would go home to prepare," said Gray, smiling, "Can I walk with you?"

"Yeah," I said, sort of surprised but in a good way, "Sure."

As we walked along, I had a feeling that something was going to happen. Only I couldn't figure out what.


	20. Deeper Meaning

Chapter Twenty: Deeper Meaning

"So, the hike today was really fun," I said, as I walked along. I wasn't near the edge this time but the man yelled out for me to be careful nevertheless.

"Don't worry; I'll take care of her!" Gray called back. He was silent during the walk. His face was perfectly emotionless but there seemed to be some tension in the air that I could feel.

"Is something wrong?" I said finally when I had finally had enough of the tension-filled atmosphere. He wasn't acting suspiciously but I just had a feeling.

"Is it that obvious?" asked Gray, stopping and turning around. We were standing on the stone path. On one side were buildings that were closed for the day even though it was still fairly early. The sky was beginning to turn a deep orange with streaks of pink now with fluffy yellow clouds.

"Actually…" I said, "Anyway. What is it since you've confessed it?"

"I have something to tell you…" said Gray.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out," I said.

"Do you mind? This is a really hard for me to say."

"Sorry," I said.

He came towards me. I backed away, "What are you—?"

Then my back hit against the wall, "Ow."

"Sorry," said Gray. He came up and held my head in his hands, "Lucy, I have to tell you. I… I'm in love with you. I'll never hurt you in any way. I have to know if you love me too."

I gasped slightly and nearly choked stupidly after the shock of it. Then I realised Gray had leaned towards me and touched his lips to mine again. His kiss was much fiercer this time, more desperate. I was really lost in the moment until I felt a cold drip land on my face and I snapped out of it.

_Eh? _I thought, looking up with my eyes without moving my head so I was still kissing Gray. The sky was dark and cloudy now and rain dropped, getting heavier every second. Gigantic raindrops fell down, making a loud splash sound when it hit the roofs of the buildings and stone floor. I suddenly noticed a movement in my peripheral vision and looked sideways. I saw a flick of blue and nothing more.

_Don't tell me… _I thought, glancing at the weather and back where I saw the blue flicker.

I put my hands on Gray's face and gently lifted his face away, "Gomenasai, Gray. I— No, I'm sorry, no." Then I ran away, after the blue flicker, "Juvia! Juvia, wait! Juvia!" Gray didn't try to follow me, standing there in shock.

I ran down alleyways, across half of town, looking for her. But there was no sight of her. Finally I ran out of places to find her. Then, my feet suddenly went in one direction without my brain controlling them. They seemed to know where they were going so I just went along with it. Soon, I was going towards the forest.

_I see! _I realised, gaining control over my feet again, _but, what was that?_

I looked around for something and saw a woman, the only one still standing in the downpour. She had a lovely dress on and a bright umbrella. She turned towards me and I gasped.

"Mother?" I said. She was partly see through. I could see the buildings faintly on the other side of her. She smiled and I heard words in my head, _you'll know what to do, Lucy._

Then she faded away slowly. I couldn't believe it. I rubbed my eyes and looked but there was nothing left of my mother. Was she there? Maybe I was imagining things but the words echoed in my head. It must have been real. Suddenly, I realised what I was supposed to be doing and ran off into the forest. I had no idea where I was going but my instincts kept me going. I looked around and saw the dripping-wet willow branches. I ran towards it and pushed them aside, running into the clearing and behind the waterfall.

Sure enough, there was the small figure of Juvia. She was sitting down, her knees hugged to her face and obviously crying a waterfall larger than the one outside. Although it was a clear day, the clouds had quickly rolled in and rained, bringing thunder and lightning as well. The storm was more depressing than any other I'd ever experienced. It made the day dark as well. I could barely make out Juvia's hunched-up figure but a flash of lightning lit up the cave for a second and I saw her.

"Look, Juvia…" I said, not sure how to talk to her anymore. Obviously, I couldn't say Gray didn't love me because he just proved he did.

Between loud sobs which I could barely hear because of the ruckus outside, Juvia said tearfully, "You both have made your choice. I guess I knew all along but…"

She broke off crying again. I didn't know what to say but I sat down next to her and tried to comfort her, staying silent so she could let out all her feelings.

"And what's worse is," said Juvia, her body literally shaking with her sobs, "You are one of the best friends I've ever had in my whole life, one of my few friends. Of course I'm upset about Gray and you but I'm even more upset about us. All my friends have left me once they found someone more worthwhile and I thought you were the same!"

"Eh?" I cried, "That's what you were upset about? You mean… You aren't upset because Gray loves me? You're just upset because you think I'll like Gray, forget about you and leave?" I thought of the statement she had said; 'the way he looks at you and the way he looks at me, it's pretty obvious who he likes'. I had never thought there was a deeper meaning in her words.

Juvia nodded, "Of course I still love Gray-sama more than life itself but it always hurt me even deeper when my friends left me, one by one, when they found somebody that wouldn't have such a gloomy atmosphere. You were one of my closest friends, Lucy-san, one of the closest I've had in a long time but then you and Gray started seeing each other often. I thought that you would slowly forget about and leave me, just like the rest had. And I know I must sound really possessive right now but from my past experiences, I was just really hurt and jump to conclusions when my close friends start to spend more time with other people. I always assume I'll be forgotten and they'll move on from me to their new, happier friends."

Her words stung a lot, but it was better hearing the truth now, I supposed, "But, you said at the beginning you were sad because you suspected Gray loved me more."

"And I was sad," said Juvia, "Although I love Gray-sama dearly, he was also a close friend. Not just anybody would save me from falling off a building. Since he loved you more and it appeared to me that you loved him, you were both slowly fading away from being my friends. Just now when Gray confessed his love, I thought you two would become a couple. Even though it seems ridiculous, I thought even you two would forget about me and leave like everyone else."

I widened my eyes at her words. So, when I assumed she was sad because Gray loved me more than her, her words actually had a deeper, more meaningful meaning. I was, frankly, really shocked.

"Baka," I said.

"Eh?" said Juvia, looking at me.

"Why would you think we would ever leave?" I said, "You're our friend, Juvia. We wouldn't ever forget you."

"All the others said that, too," said Juvia, "But when they finally got sick of me, they left for someone else."

"Then they don't sound like good friends," I said, "They don't sound like good friends who care about you. If they did, they would never forget or leave."

_I wonder if Gajeel knew this? _I thought, _well, he must have, right? That's why he urged me to talk to her… _

"Gajeel was the only one who accepted me the way I am and the only one I've trusted to always be my friend before Fairy Tail," said Juvia, "In my childhood, I learned that people were deceitful, cruel and friends were forgettable from past experiences. I never grew close to anyone because of these reasons, only Gajeel. Then, I joined Fairy Tail. Everyone there was true friends and I was happy. But then, when you and Gray started becoming closer, I felt past experiences reappearing again. That's why I was so freaked out and left crying."

"I still cared for you the same way I did before Gray started becoming a closer friend," I said.

Juvia sighed, "That's what you think."

"Nani?" I said.

"When you were sick," said Juvia, "Remember when Gray stayed behind and you fell asleep?"

"Yeah…" I said, not sure that this was related to anything.

"I visited you, later," said Juvia, "While you were asleep. I was concerned so therefore I was sad and brought along the rain. Then, you started shivering because of the rain."

"I was cold that night," I suddenly remembered. It seemed like so long ago now.

Juvia nodded, "Before, no one seemed to mind me bringing along the rain sometimes. But when I came, Gray said, 'will you stop making it rain? You'll make her cold!'" she winced at the memory.

"Gray said that?" I said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Juvia nodded, "Even you. You murmured in your sleep, 'make the rain go away.'"

"Nani?" I said, not remembering that.

"I heard it," said Juvia, "You often don't remember hearing yourself sleep-talk. Anyway, I was upset because I thought my friends had begun to get tired of me and started rejecting me. So I took a mission with the Raijinshuu team to get away from it all. When I come back, I see your note and walk into town, thinking we'll be OK after we talk about what happened and I see you and Gray. A friend had been in the exact same position as you and the very next day, she completely forgot about me to leave with him! I thought you were the same! Whenever I shot you death glares, and I am sorry about that, it was just me acting out because of fear that I would lose you, one of my most precious friends. So I had to take it out on someone and you were always the closest."

"Juvia…" I said, hugging her, "We'll never forget you. I'm sorry I said what I did but I didn't know. I love Gray very much but just because I love him doesn't mean I'll care for you any less."

"How could I believe you?" said Juvia, "You're just like all the others."

"I guess I can't change the fact that you think that," I said, getting up. Before I left, I turned around, "But, Juvia, you're one of the best people and friend I've ever met or had. I know you might think so, but I will never forget or leave you. I wouldn't change a single thing about you because you're my friend. I hope you can believe me now and allow me and Gray to become a couple without thinking we'll leave you."

I walked out, allowing her a bit of time to think about what I'd said. I hoped she would start to trust us as much as she did Gajeel. I didn't want to lose either of them, or even worse, both of them.

**OK, I know this chapter was a little confusing. XD**

**But I like putting a random, unexpected twist on things instead of the normal, clichéd situations that a million people have wrote about~ Anyway, please review~ :D**


	21. Leaving

Chapter Twenty-One: Leaving

I rubbed my eyes as I woke up. I had barely gotten any sleep because I'd been worrying so much about what Juvia would think. And Gray! What was he going to think, when I just ditched him in the street like that? I shuddered at the thought if the two of them were both mad at me for upsetting them both. I wore a washed out denim miniskirt and a black, striped floaty top with a camisole underneath in case there were any perverts in town. I wore my usual boots and tied up my hair and wore my belt.

As soon as I left my apartment and walked to the guild, I thought up a million negative thoughts. Maybe I should take up meditating to clear my head…

I walked in and looked around for blue hair. I saw Juvia but Gray wasn't anywhere to be seen. When I saw Juvia though, she waved me over. I went over and she said something I could barely hear over the racket of the guild. Apparently, there was a drinking contest going on or something. Nearly the whole guild was present because there were no missions to be done. Except Gray. He must have been lucky enough to get a mission.

"What?" I said.

"Somewhere, talk," Juvia practically had to shout and I still couldn't hear everything. I understood though.

"OK!" I shouted back.

She led me away and, instead of going to the balcony we went up the steps to the second floor where it was quieter.

"This is the place where only S-Class missions are!" I hissed, "We're not allowed up here!"

"I got permission off the Master," said Juvia, not hesitating for a moment, "If we do anything bad, he'll just give a punishment."

I shuddered at the thought of last time when I got spanked even when the Master was lecturing Natsu, "OK." At least Laxus didn't hang around here anymore since he was booted out. That was one relief at least.

We sat down in a little dark corner.

"I wanted a private place," said Juvia, "There is only three S Class Mages. Mira doesn't fight anymore, I have no idea where Gildarts is and Erza would know better to not interrupt us."

"Yeah," I said, "So…?"

Juvia sighed which I panicked was a bad sign. Then she smiled, "I thought about it and…"

"Would you stop being so suspenseful?" I almost wailed, "This is almost unbearable for me!"

Juvia laughed which was a good sign, "I've decided that I shouldn't jump to immediate bad conclusions. You and Gray and Fairy Tail are great friends and I shouldn't compare you to my past, bad friends. If you say you won't leave then I trust you. And I am really sorry." She hugged me, "You and Gray should become a couple and I know you wouldn't forget about me."

"Really?" I said, smiling, "Thank you, Juvia! Of course I wouldn't forget you, ever! You're my friend!"

I could tell Juvia was grinning, "'the greatest happiness come from seeing others you love happy'"

"What?" I said.

"The phrase that helped me make my decision," said Juvia, "It dawned on me that as long as my friends were happy, I would be happy. And if they were sad, so would I. Then I realised I was the reason my friends were so sad, so I'm really sorry, Lucy."

"It's OK," I said, hugging her tightly, "As long as we're still friends."

"Definitely," said Juvia, letting me go, "Now, shouldn't you go and find Gray?"

"Yeah," I said, suddenly remembering Gray, "Thank you, Juvia!"

She smiled as I ran down the steps, nearly falling down in my happiness. Then I realised I had no idea where Gray was. I went towards the crowd where the drinking competition had finally finished. I walked up to Cana, "Cana, do you know where Gray is?"

"What's that, Harold?" said Cana drunkenly, putting her arm around me, missing and face-planting on the floor. She was delirious because of all that booze.

"OK, I don't think you'd be any help…" I said, walking away up to Makarov's office.

"Master?" I said, knocking on the door and stepping in. He was sitting down with his cup of something I couldn't see and facing the window. He turned around when I came in though, "Eh? Oh, Lucy. What can I do for you?"

"Has Gray taken a mission recently?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Of course though, I can't tell you about other people's mission though."

"Can you at least tell me how long his mission will last for?"

He thought and finally said, "Fine, but I will only tell you this, nothing else, understand?"

"Yes, sir," I said.

"OK, it'll take a couple of days for him to complete the mission," said the Master, turning back to the window, "That's all I am going to say. Go on, now, goodbye."

I went down, frustrated. Why did everyone always take missions when I had to talk to them? Instead I spent the rest of the day talking to the other guild members and checking the mission board every now and then. There were no new missions and I could see other members checking as well. They would probably grab the mission quicker than me so I gave up checking for a new mission. Instead I decided to go home and work on my book instead. There were no missions anyway; no one would notice me gone since they were watching the missions' board like hawks.

When I walked into my apartment, I saw a funny little note on my desk. I picked it up, thinking it was a note from Gray. I opened it and read the difficult, blocky letters. I soon realised that it wasn't from Gray at all. I dropped the note in shock, covering up my mouth and part of my nose with both hands, in that way when someone is really surprised. I picked up the note again once I'd gotten control over myself and read the blocky, thick letters.

**Lucy Heartfilia.**

**We have your father and the other guild members of his guild. If you don't want any of them to die, come to the mountain base of Mount Crest by three days. Do not bring any of your guild members if you value your father's safety.**

**A Dark Guild.**

I had no idea who had written this message. But that mountain… I had heard it somewhere before. I went to my little bookshelf and took down a thick book on the environment which was there when I first rented this room. I coughed as the dust fell, since I never read it before. I flicked to the index at the back and scanned through the names. Finally, there it was, Mount Crest. I went to the page and quickly read through the short paragraphs. Mount Crest was a dormant volcanic mountain. Why they would set up a hideout in such a dangerous place, I'll never know but it was located in Estonia, a good three day trip away from Magnolia. I'd have to leave immediately.

I placed the book back on the shelf and considered. If I left suddenly, that would certainly attract attention from the guild. They would want to follow me; especially my team and they could, even if I didn't leave any evidence of where I was going, because of Natsu's sense of smell. He could pick up anything in my rented place and track me down. Instead I packed a bag of necessary clothes, some food and water, a couple of blankets and walked out and went straight to the perfume store. It wasn't exactly a store; it was a little sort of a little wooden hut sort of thing near the outskirts of town. I walked up to the old woman behind the counter, "I want the most strong and overpowering scent you have."

The old woman looked startled but of course, she had to do what the customer asked, "Of course, dear, but it won't be cheap."

I got out all the remaining money from Chantelle's reward and put it on the counter, "There."

The old woman counted the money and smiled, "Very good, dear." She went to one of the shelves behind the counter and got out a small, thin pink bottle. It was nearly full with red liquid and had a little glass top decorated with a small rose. It seemed very little for something so expensive but I didn't care. The only point was to cover me up with something very strong and pungent so Natsu will be put off my trail. They know I don't like overpowering scents like this so they'll assume it's not me. I unscrewed the top and took a quick whiff. I nearly gagged at the stench. It was very overpowering. I felt sorry for Natsu when he smelt this with his enhanced sense of smell.

Not breathing, I quickly sprayed a quick bit of perfume on me. Then I thanked the lady in a strangled voice and quickly went out. I could tell I was bothering the town's people and they kept a wide space around me. I hardly paid any attention to them. I was thinking about my Dad and the random attack. They knew he was my father and that I was in a guild. They even knew where I lived. The attack must have been planned and researched to know all this information. I thought of Dad and his 'errand' in town for his guild. Was it possible that his guild knew of the Dark Guild's attack and wanted help for it, maybe from another guild? I knew Dad's guild weren't particularly strong fighters so it was a possibility. Or was I thinking too much about the situation?

Finally, I reached where I was heading: the station. I knew the general direction of Estonia was north-west. I would change about two trains, and then it was a one day's walk to the town. I would surely be able to spot the mountain from there. As my train came to a stop and passengers began to get off or board, I followed the crowd and sat down by myself. I put my elbow on the window and put my fist over my mouth, thinking. If I was taking on a Dark Guild solo, I would probably be doomed unless they were seriously weak. I couldn't chance that though so I asked the stewardess who came by, "Hey, do you have a phone or something I could use?"

"Yes, sure," said the woman, showing me down the aisle to two phone places with a little booth for privacy. There was no one seated there, the nearest person was four rows in front of it. I thanked the stewardess and went inside the little booth, trying to remember the number.

_Flashback~_

"_But we'll always be in touch, right?" I said as the others began walking away._

"_Sure," smiled the red-haired mage before me, "Like I can leave my little sis all alone in the world. Here's our number if you need to call us…"_

_End Flashback~_

"There," I said, as I pressed the number in. It rang for a few seconds and then someone picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey, Infra, it's Lucy," I said.

"LUCY!" yelled Infra happily, "ABOUT TIME! I thought you completely forgot about us!"

"Oh? Is that Lucy?" cried someone in the background, probably Ladin from the sound of it.

"Lucy!" yelled Nero.

"So, how ya been?" shouted Infra.

"No need to shout," I said, laughing slightly, "But I'm not so well. My father is held hostage by a Dark Guild."

Dead silence, followed by Infra, "What?"

"He's held hostage," I said, tears falling from my eyes, "Infra, he's going to die if I don't get over there!"

"Well, at least hang on for us to get over there," said Infra. I heard a muffled yell that sounded like, "GET THE BOAT READY!"

"That's actually what I'm calling about," I said, "I can't bring along any of my guild members so I was wondering if you guys could maybe help me?"

"Of course we are!" shouted Infra, "Why would you wonder if we would?"

"I don't know," I said, "But I have to be there within three days. I don't think you can row over here and get to a town called Estonia on time. Here's what I want you to do…"

I explained my plan and Infra agreed whole-heartedly. I discussed what I thought would happen and what they were to do if that were the case.

After I said goodbye, I sat down in the chair and looked out the window as the last of Magnolia disappeared.

_Goodbye, Magnolia, _I smiled, _I'll be home soon._

**The End**

**So…. A suspenseful end! XD **

**I have most of the sequel planned out and will probably write that after a short break to rethink and adjust my ideas. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the story and please review! :D**


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